The sky may well be the limit for Matt O’Riley. Celtic is unlikely to be, with the midfielder already attracting interest – and even a bid – from Spanish giants Atletico Madrid in January. But whether or not he remains at Celtic beyond the summer or not, it seems that Celtic will always remain with him.

It can seem clichéd or even come across as a little patronising when players profess their love for a club, and it is very often a portent to them departing the scene. But with O’Riley, the sentiment seems genuine. He may not be thinking about his future too much right now in any case, with his focus firmly on ensuring his club end the season with two trophies to show for their efforts this term, but there is no doubt that he knows exactly what he has in Glasgow. “I don’t think anyone realises how big the club is until you get here,” O’Riley said.

“I realised on my first day just how big it was. I’ve told this story before, I was viewing properties and there were builders running after me and I honestly thought ‘what is happening here’?' I wasn’t used to it. It was that intensity and passion from people, it sucks you right in. So naturally I’ve been in love with the club for a long time. Hopefully, that shows by dedication and performance. I’m really enjoying it and hopefully still will. I actually asked Joe (Hart) that. I asked if there’s anywhere else like this and he said ‘No, not at all’. Just because he’s played at the highest level with the best players and the biggest clubs.

“But it just shows the passion and love for Celtic. Both sides of Glasgow - I’m sure Rangers will say the same - but the love and intensity for both their clubs is so strong that naturally you get sucked in and fall in love with the team.”

O’Riley is trying very hard though not to be sucked into the frenzy of the title race, saying that the key to delivering on Celtic goals may lie in their ability to block out the outside noise and focus on the task at hand. Celtic could well be just two home wins from the title, after all, with victory over Hearts on Saturday and then Rangers the following week enough to all but get them over the line. “That is the plan,” he said.

“It’s easier said than done – and that’s why we can’t get ahead of ourselves. We lost to Hearts the last time at home so we need to be focused and can’t be thinking about the next one. We are in the position where we want to be, and the squad is in a good place as well. We have players back and Daizen Maeda is hopefully training this week too. The squad is strong.

“I think it’s also not being too invested in the noise that comes around that too because that can add some pressure to myself and the team. It’s about enjoying the ride and having fun.”

Having fun when operating within such a pressure cooker environment may seem a novel concept, but it is one that seems natural to the Celtic players thanks to the demeanour of their manager. O’Riley has noticed an extra spring in the step of manager Brendan Rodgers as the title race has come around the final bend, and that has rubbed off on his squad. “You can tell he enjoys it,” he said.

“We get that feeling too. Everyone enjoys it. Everyone should enjoy it. It’s fun when it’s close. I know from a fans’ perspective and I’d like it to be easy and [we were] 12 points clear. But when it’s close it brings out that extra fire in everyone and drive, so I think it’s really enjoyable. It’s about not getting ahead of ourselves. I’m sure people are already thinking about Rangers in two weeks’ time but that should be the last thing on our minds right now.

“We should be thinking about tomorrow and then the next day then the next day.”

While not looking too far ahead, O’Riley does allow himself a moment of reflection now and again, and though he isn’t too keen to discuss the next meeting with Rangers just yet, he is happy to discuss his role in the last one. More specifically, the moment he exhibited the sense of calm and the mental fortitude he has been training himself to exude as he dinked a penalty up the middle of Jack Butland’s goal at Ibrox. “I was pretty set on doing that, to be honest,” he said.

“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! I can laugh about it now. 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.”