Celtic's Matt O'Riley praises Gavin Strachan's tutoring

Congratulations, Player of the Month. How does it feel?

Yeah, it’s nice. I found out yesterday and let my mum, dad and girlfriend know and they’re obviously quite proud, but it’s not about me at the end of the day. I’m just quite grateful to play here in this team and obviously playing in a good team naturally helps you win individual accolades, so I’m lucky enough to do that.

What did your mum and dad say when you told them the news?

They said, “Well done!”. No, obviously they were very happy and proud as parents are. They’ve been with me through the whole journey and process, and have sacrificed so much, so the award’s more for them than myself, but it all counts.

In terms of your football at the moment, do you feel you’re playing your best stuff at Celtic right now?

Since I’ve been here, probably, yeah. It’s probably the best I’ve felt in all aspects of my game, which is positive, and it’s a continual process of improving all the time. I think if you dedicate your attention to improving in all aspects, then naturally you do improve over time, and I feel like I’m doing that.

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Since you’ve come in, you have been so impressive in this side, winning the league twice. Top of the league at the moment, but it seems that this year you’ve added goals to your game. What’s changed? Has anything changed, or do you feel like you’re taking your chances more and getting into positions more?

I’m just getting luckier! I don’t know, I'm in the box probably a bit more and taking a few more pops at goal. I’ve been encouraged to get in the box as much as possible as well, and naturally, when you’re in goal-scoring positions, the higher chances are that you’re going to score more goals, and that’s kind of the case at the moment.

You’re the top scorer in the league at the moment. Is that something you can keep going and keep Kyogo behind you?

I don’t know, it’s Kyogo, isn’t it? He’s my striker, so in a way, I’d rather he won that award, because that’s obviously his job for us, to score goals. I like seeing him so well, but it’s not something I think about whatsoever if I’m being honest.

You mentioned it’s the best football you’ve played so far. What is it about this coach that gets that out of you? 

It’s somewhat similar in terms of the previous manager's style, but maybe slightly different in certain aspects. I think I’m just in a good place mentally, so naturally, I’ve got the platform now to show that. I think I had that before, but now it’s just a case of me really showing it on a regular basis. I feel in a good place mentally to be able to do that.

I think the Hearts game will make it a quarter of the way through the season. How do you assess how the season has gone so far?

Good, yeah. Started off not rocky, but maybe a little bit. It wasn’t as fluid as we wanted it to be, but naturally, that was always going to be the case with a new manager and lots of new players. The squad’s pretty big, so we’ve got a lot of people to adapt to things. It’s not easy playing at this club, so I understand why people find it hard to get going a little bit. I think since the first few games, especially our last and most recent one, we looked really fluid and like ourselves.

What kind of test are you expecting at Tynecastle?

It’s always difficult. The atmosphere and the crowd on you. It feels quite tight in there because of the way the stadium’s structured. They’re probably going to come after us, and we’ll obviously do the same to them, but it’s just a case of a game where if you score early it can change things quite a lot as well. If we do what we do, then we’ll be okay.

The Denmark call-up, that must have been an honour for you?

That was cool, yeah, under quite random circumstances as well. I wasn’t expecting it by any means. I was just sat on a balcony in Spain and then got a call and that was it. Obviously a proud moment for me, and my family too, naturally. They made the journey to the game, my mum, dad and girlfriend, so good effort from them to come to San Marino, even though I didn’t play, but it kind of shows the support system I’ve got and makes it that more special to get called up when you have those sorts of people around you.

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Denmark going to the Euros is that a goal for you?

Yeah of course. I want to be there. I don't just want to be there. I want to play in it as well. That only comes if I perform well here. A lot of it is out of my hands too. Someone else makes the decisions and I will just do my best to be there.

Was it important to get a taste of it just to get that full international team experience?

Yes, I think so. It was nice to get bedded in and everyone was genuinely really nice, even the so-called 'big hitters' were so friendly and welcoming right from the start, which made it really easy to settle in. By the end, I felt that I was a real part of the team which was really nice.

Did it make a difference that you can speak Danish?

Yes. It helps a lot. I am fluent. I can go in there and feel part of the team. If I couldn't do that it would be a little bit harder to settle in. If there is the one occasional word I don't understand, I will just ask and I will pick it up pretty quickly as well. It is just a case of continually speaking and practising it to keep myself sharp.

Going back to your goals this season. The manager has spoken about the timings of your runs into the box. Is it that level of detail you go into with him after games?

I work a lot with Gavin Strachan and I go through my clips with him and assess what I could have done better with the fine details. I think I have got enough game intelligence to understand and recognise when to make the run into the box. I think it is just more a case of just keeping going in there and the ball will fall to you at times as well. Sometimes the simple goals are probably some of the hardest ones because it takes a run in the 80th minute into the box when you have been running all game. Little things like that when a defender might switch off as well who has been following you around all game, which you get a lot of in Scotland because there is a lot of man-marking. Persevering through that man-marking and running off somebody can be the difference between getting a tap-in or not.

Celtic only have a ticket allocation in their hundreds for Tynecastle. Does that change the dynamics for you? Bearing in mind you won at Ibrox with no fans in attendance?

Yes. It changes the dynamic for sure. The Ibrox experience is one where we played in the most intense environment that you can without fans and performed well and got a result. I don't think there will be anything to worry about in terms of performance, obviously, we would like more fans there as it makes the atmosphere better and more enjoyable. It is not something we can control, so it is what it is.

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You started off your Celtic career at Tynecastle with a man-of-the-match performance. Is that something that comes into your head for a mental boost?

No, I wouldn't say so. The game was a good one the first time I played in it. I have good memories there but you play so many games you just learn to let go of each performance as it has gone past. I think I have got to approach this game as if it is the first game of the season and come into it fresh and open-minded and that will give me the best chance to perform well.

Is your mental game something that is a big factor in your performances? You have scored more goals this season and is the mental factor a lot to do with that?

I would say so yes. For me, personally, it's the most important aspect. Everyone is good at football and it is the fine margins that can separate players. If you come from a place that is very calm and regardless of what is happening around you good or bad and you can stay calm throughout that then naturally I think you give yourself a better chance of succeeding because you are coming from a place where there is less stuff up there.