KIERAN Tierney is in line to make it 100 not out for the Celtic first team at the tender age of 20 in Dingwall this Saturday – but the unflappable Parkhead full back reckons it is no big deal.

The academy product has taken everything in his stride as he has made his mark in continental and international football in the last three seasons and won’t let the honour of reaching a century of top team appearances at his boyhood heroes faze him a bit.

“No matter when I play my 100th game for Celtic, I will just treat it like any other,” said Tierney. “It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, I’ll train hard for it.”

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It always helps when you are surrounded by those who have been there, done that and got the t-shirt. So the left back thanked Scott Brown, his regular captain for club and country, for showing him the ropes as he prepared to take the Scotland armband for the first time.

The hugely promising full back, who has already captained Celtic this term, assumed leadership of his country for the first time against the Netherlands on Thursday, putting in his usual assured display albeit from an unfamiliar centre back berth in the 1-0 defeat at Pittodrie.

Brown, the regular captain for both club and country, helped fill in the blanks. “He [Brown] supported me when he heard I was getting the armband,” said Tierney. “He’s been great in that respect the past few years. I’ve been captain at Celtic a couple of times and he’s supported me then too.”

He might have played the role on the night like a grizzled veteran but centre back in a 4-4-2 is not even a position he has had experience of in training. “I’ve only played centre back once recently so I’ve not had much time to adapt,” said the 20-year-old. “I’ve not really been looking to get coached in that position.

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“The last few months I’ve had coaching at right-back and obviously I normally play left-back. I just need to adapt my game wherever I’m asked to play.”

So effortlessly has Tierney taken everything in his stride that you might imagine he is impervious to the curse of the young player, and that form dip which he has to kick himself out. As confident as he is in his own ability, the 20-year-old was honest enough this week to say that he fully expects a dip in that remarkable form to come for him sooner or later too. It is just a matter of making sure he can bounce back from it.

“A dip WILL come for me,” said Tierney. “100 per cent. It’s just how I approach it and deal with it.

“You try and stay away from negative thoughts,” he added. “No one goes out to play badly. You obviously don’t want that. But I’m sure it will come. And if it does, it’s not the end of the world. People can play badly. It’s happened to plenty of players who’ve come out the other side. You try your best to make sure it doesn’t happen. You’ve got people by your side to support you. But everyone is human. If it does happen, I’d just need to bounce back.”