KIERAN TIERNEY was just 11-years-old when he experienced his best cup moment.

Sitting in Hampden with his dad, a green and white scarf draped round his neck, the schoolboy celebrated as his Celtic heroes edged out Rangers 2-0 after extra-time in the League Cup final.

It is a memory that is still fresh in the mind of the now 18-year-old who is daring to dream of his own special moment on the lush turf at the national stadium.

Tierney was at Hampden yesterday for the fourth round draw for this year’s William Hill Scottish Cup, a ceremony that saw the Parkhead club picked to travel to Stranraer in the new year.

What may seem like an arduous prospect to some is another gripping and exciting leg on the left-back’s astonishingly fast-paced journey into the limelight.

The teenager was virtually unknown a couple of months ago but a host of accomplished performances, particularly in the Europa League, have set him on a new path.

He is hoping that it takes a detour via Hampden in what will be a trip to a treble.

“I’ve been to all the Celtic ones [finals] since I was young, my dad used to take me so I’ve got a lot of experience of cup finals… supporting them anyway,” said Tierney.

“We’ve won a few when I was there, I remember Darren O’Dea scoring the winner in the League Cup final. Hopefully my memories can be similar to the ones I went to and we win it.

“We need to prepare right [for Stranraer], we can’t take anything for granted. They will make it tough for us so we just need to go there with the right mindset. [To get to a final] would be brilliant, especially if we could get there and to be involved, playing or not, would be great.

“The treble is the aim for everyone at Celtic. We need to work hard, there will be a lot of games for us to do that and we need to be ready for them.

“Hopefully we can do it.”

No matter what happens at Hampden next year, Tierney doesn’t need a trophy to be sent to dreamland – he’s already there.

The boyhood Celtic fan has been plucked from obscurity in the club’s youth system and has flourished in Ronny Deila’s first-team, turning him into a household name and causing him to get recognised in the street by supporters.

It’s not all glamour though for the 18-year-old, who has revealed he still has to clean the boots of the first team and even get ready in a different changing room from them at Lennoxtown.

He said: “I’m still in the youth team dressing room, so I need to keep working hard and hopefully one day I can be in the first team dressing room.

“It’s still hard to take in for me. I just see myself as still being a Celtic fan. It’s brilliant for me and I just need to appreciate every moment I have with the first team and make the most of it.

“The youngest people have to clean the boots, so if I’m the youngest there I have to clean the boots and get the balls. That’s all good for me.

“That’s the way to put it, I’m living in the dream and hopefully it can continue for a long, long time.”