THERE was never any chance of the ankle injury which Celtic centre half Auston Trusty suffered early on in the Champions League match against RB Leipzig on Tuesday night forcing him to leave the field.

The United States internationalist might have come on towards the end of the opening league phase match against Slovan Bratislava in September and may have been involved for the full 90 minutes in the subsequent encounters against Borussia Dortmund in Germany and Atalanta in Italy last month.

However, the meeting with the Bundesliga giants in midweek was the first time the United States internationalist had started in a big European game at Parkhead and he was determined to savour it to the full.

It was, after all, the realisation of a lifelong dream.

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“I rolled my ankle pretty bad and I was hurting for the rest of the game,” said Trusty. “Just the atmosphere got me through. You play for these nights, live for these nights. I was once a little kid in my bedroom dreaming of playing in that environment. So I wasn’t going to let a little ankle sprain bring me down.
“It was amazing. When I was coming here, I heard the stories. My debut was in the Champions League, but I only played a certain amount of minutes. So to start the game and just be in that environment and have that mindset? It was a dream come true. It was really actually amazing.”

(Image: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire) Indeed it was. The William Hill Premiership leaders produced what has been described by some commentators as their best European display this century on Tuesday night. They were rock solid at the back, dominant in midfield and full of flair up front.  They ran out comfortable 3-1 winners against opponents who were in second place in the Bundesliga.

Trusty was outstanding at the back for the Scottish champions. It was a far cry from the 7-1 mauling which he and his team mates suffered at the hands of last season’s beaten finalists Dortmund four and bit weeks earlier. So did he ever have any doubts that he would bounce back from that humiliation? 

“No, none whatsoever,” he said. “I'm confident and I know I joined a confident team. Sometimes, unfortunately, football is like that. That day Dortmund didn't miss at all, everything went their way. Being on the other side of that it sucks, but it's football. You kind of have to accept it and move on. There are always more opportunities. So you live with it, you learn it and you can only move forward.”
Trusty is a slight doubt for the game against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park this afternoon – manager Brendan Rodgers revealed at Lennoxtown on Friday that neither he nor his central defensive partner Cameron Carter-Vickers had trained as a “precautionary measure”. 
However, if the £6m summer signing is fit, he will approach the William Hill Premiership fixture in exactly the same way that he prepared for the Champions League outing on Tuesday night. He knows the visitors will need to be at their very best at a venue they lost at twice last term to prevail and reclaim their slight advantage over Aberdeen at the top of the table. He intends to take his A game if he does play.  

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“The games come quick and fast here,” said the former Sheffield United man. “It's hard but also it's a blessing. You have such big and important games and you are playing for such a historic and important club. In every game you just want to give your all and give your best.
“I think the gaffer and the coaching staff don't allow us to treat any game differently. I think we prepare for a Champions League match or a league match the same way, in the same intensity.

(Image: SNS) “At the end of the day we as a team have to create our own environment. Some teams that we do play aren't going to create that environment of a Champions League night at the top European level. So we have to bring it ourselves, we have to train with a certain mentality and then treat every game the same way.
“I've never played there [Rugby Park]. Everything is new to me and everything is a new experience. But I've played on astroturf before. At the end of the day, football is football. You adjust to different pitches. It's all mentality. But it comes from the top and the gaffer and the coaching staff, they don't let us slip so it's good.”

Trusty finally, five years after first receiving a call-up to the senior squad, made his debut for the United States team last year. He played in a CONCACAF Nations League match against Grenada and helped his country to a 7-1 win. He has remained involved since and won another two caps.

The 26-year-old is hopeful that challenging for trophies domestically with Celtic and playing against the cream of the continent will help his cause with his country, who take on Jamaica in a two-legged Nations League quarter-final during the international break, going forward.

“The exposure you get playing for a big club like Celtic only helps anybody's situation,” he said. “You always want to play in the best competitions, play for the best teams in the world. So I think it only helps the situation in that respect.”

Having Auston Trusty vying with Liam Scales for a start alongside Cameron Carter-Vickers will help Celtic no end both at home and abroad in the coming months.