Celtic’s title-winning experience is a ‘huge’ advantage – Kieran Tierney

Celtic are used to being at the top, but heading into Wednesday’s game away to Aberdeen, they sit in third place, eight points behind Hearts, two behind Rangers, albeit with a game in hand on both, and just two points ahead of Motherwell.

“It might be interesting if you’re watching it from the outside,” Tierney admitted. “This is probably something that hasn’t been around for a while.

“It’s massive, but regardless of the situation, the game every week is important for Celtic.

“It’s not new for us. It might be the case, with three or four teams competing, but the pressure of playing with Celtic is not new for us.

“But we focus on ourselves, not on the teams around us.”

Having come back from two goals down to draw in Sunday’s Old Firm derby away to Rangers, with Tierney scoring the opener for the visitors, Celtic head to Pittodrie with the chance of overcoming their city rivals in a ‘positive’ frame of mind.

Tierney says O’Neill’s side are trying to figure out why they have made a slow start in recent games, but are also looking to build on the “determination and character we showed – and the quality we showed as well” in the second half at Ibrox.

The Scottish defender believes that “it would be huge” to surpass Rangers, but stressed that despite the poor performance of the eighth-placed team recently, “the absence of Aberdeen from any team at any stage of the season is a difficult match.”

He realized there was room for improvement in Celtic’s performance if they wanted to win the title and added: “You can’t just rely on resilience and character. We need to show that we can play as well.”