The Wrestler. Jerry Maguire. Rocky. Who doesn’t love a good yarn about sporting redemption? Certainly, former Celtic and Hearts striker Tony Watt does, as he has started his own film review website entitled ‘Watt to Watch’.

And perhaps if Watt, now at Charlton Athletic, has his way, one day we will be settling down with a bucket of popcorn to watch the story of his own rapid rise to the top, his subsequent spell of turmoil and soul-searching, before his ultimate re-emergence as a hero at the top level for club and country.

As he watched current Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths’ Hampden heroics on the big screen as wrapped as any other Scotland fan, he couldn’t help but be inspired.

The parallels between the pair are obvious. Outwith the Celtic connection, both players have had mixed spells south of the border, both have had their injury setbacks, and the application of both has been called into question in the past.

Watt believes however that he can follow in the footsteps of Scotland’s latest superhero, and fulfil the promise of a career that once looked to be destined for greatness.

“I know Griff, I know what he can do,” Watt said. “That’s no coincidence he scored two free-kicks. He has the ability for that. He did a job against a world class team as the one upfront, and did well and took his two chances.

“That’s him, he’s gone down in history. People write him off, but people love to write others off, that is what they do. If you sat down and listened to everything people said, mentally you would be weak and mentally you wouldn’t be able to forge a career in anything.

“Sometimes people take it personally but you can’t take it personally in this business.

“Griff’s done that and he’s just thought ‘you know what, people think I can’t do it, I’ll go and score an extra 10 goals this season, I’ll go and score two goals against England at Hampden. I’ll do that against Premier League players.’

“I can [take inspiration from that], because I know I’m a good player. If you’re not playing and not doing well people are going to judge you but that’s part and parcel of it, that’s football. Sometimes that makes you stronger and gives you a reason to prove people wrong.”

It has been almost four years since Watt scored what proved to be the decisive goal for Celtic against Barcelona, a moment that has both been the highlight and a hindrance to his career and how he is portrayed ever since.

Still only 23, he isn’t ready to accept the obituaries that some seem to be writing for his career, particularly north of the border where his loan spell at Hearts last season is generally viewed as something of a failure.

“I haven’t even peaked yet so nobody can say I’m past it,” he said. “I’ve done a lot of good things and shown glimpses but that’s it.

“I was kicking on down south but I got injured and if that happened again then I would know how to handle it because that was the first real set-back for me.

“Wherever I end up, and who knows where that may be, I’ll be mentally right and it’s going to be my fault if I fail. But I know I won’t fail and I know that I have more than enough to break back into the Scotland set-up and I know I have more than enough to play at the highest level.

“It’s not being arrogant, it’s just knowing. I want to make my family proud and make people proud."

*Tony Watt was speaking at the launch of his new online movie website Watt To Watch. Check out Tony’s movie reviews and big name interviews at www.watttowatch.co.uk’