Derek Riordan insists that he worked tirelessly at his long-range shooting when he was a Celtic player so that it became second nature to him.
The former Celtic and Hibs star revealed that he was never off the training pitch practising his shooting technique. He would regularly put in extra hours when the rest of the first-team squad had gone home in order to hone his goalscoring skills.
Such was Riordan's dedication to his craft that he would stay behind after training and fire 100 balls into the net to keep his striking instincts razor sharp. He laughed off the suggestions that he was a lazy trainer during his time with Gordon Strachan's men.
The 39-year-old signed for Celtic in 2006 after scooping the young player of the year award and SFWA player of the year award in 2005 as well as gaining international hours.
The dream move turned sour when he fell out with Strachan owing to a lack of game-time. Riordan made just 32 appearances for Celtic in two years and scored eight goals.
It was a meagre return for a sublimely talented player who was once Hibs' highest marksman for three consecutive seasons and at one stage in his career sat behind Celtic Henrik Larsson and Rangers Kris Boyd in the all-time SPL top goalscorers table.
Riordan though refuted the notion that he was a lazy player during his Celtic career and he reckons that he could still put many of today's strikers to shame with his goalscoring prowess.
Ironically Strachan labelled Riordan the best finisher at the club during his managerial stint with the Hoops.
Riordan revealed that had he been given a fair crack of the whip under Strachan he would have always tried to be the club's top goalscorer every season because he was fiercely competitive.
Riordan said: "I still think I am good enough now to score goals. I watch players shooting these days and I think to myself - 'How are they on £60,000 a week'?
"That is just what I am like. I am so competitive and I just want to be the best. People say I am lazy but they never watched me take 100 balls when I was at Celtic and stay back after training for hours and do shooting practice.
"I used to practise my shooting all the time. Nobody is interested in those stories. It was always the lazy training narrative that was brought up whenever people spoke about me. Nobody ever mentioned the many hours I put in at training working on my goalscoring.
"That's a side to Derek Riordan the player that not many people know about. That's why I was so good at free-kicks and why I could score goals from distance. I practised so hard at my shooting so it became a natural thing to me.
"Gordon Strachan said was the best finisher at Celtic. That didn't happen by accident and I was the best finisher at the club for a reason. Aiden McGeady and I used to hone our shooting skills by having competitions against each other. I'd do the same with Alan Thompson when he didn't feature in the first team."
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