Matt O'Riley has revealed a Jack Butland inkling inspired his Panenka penalty against Rangers.

The Celtic midfielder has insisted he always planned to loft the ball down the middle of the goal but suggested the cheeky finish wasn't brave - instead it was the best option.

O'Riley kept a cool head from the spot to tuck home as Butland went to his left and was unable to prevent the simple strike finding the net.

For O'Riley, the penalty finish was no big deal - after all he'd been practicing it all week due to being "quite confident" Butland would dive.

“I was pretty set on doing that, to be honest," said the Celtic midfielder who has been nominated for PFA Scotland Player of the Year.

“I was quite confident Jack Butland was going to dive, and fortunately he did. If he didn’t, it would have been a different story!"

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O'Riley was confident from 12 yards due to intense mental preparation before thee powderkeg clash and decided ahead of time against risking missing by blasting the ball.

"I can laugh about it now," he said. "I felt relaxed and confident about it at the time. Thankfully it went in. I genuinely wasn’t thinking it was brave or anything. I just felt that was the best decision at that moment.

“If you lift it slowly in the middle you can have a better chance than blasting it hard, as it can catch a leg or something. I just wanted to lift it and it worked.

"I’d practised it in training, so I knew I was going to do it. It’s not the kind of game you want to second guess yourself. We were 1-0 up at that point so perhaps I felt even more calm.

“It sounds strange, but I really wasn’t nervous, purely because I was so mentally prepared.”