I know exactly what Auston Trusty is going through at Celtic so write him off at your peril

Daily Record

a day ago

The USA international has fallen down the pecking order at Parkhead
Kelvin Wilson knows exactly what Auston Trusty is going through at Celtic.
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The ex-Nottingham Forest defender's debut season at Parkhead in 2011/12 was a tough ride. He blew hot and cold and by summer, many fans had already written him off.
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Now, a strikingly similar tale is unfolding with USA international Trusty.
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Big things were expected when the Hoops splashed out £6million to land the American centre-back from Sheffield United last year.
to Liam Scales after dropping down the pecking order.
Wilson admits adapting to the intense pressure and expectations in Glasgow can come as a shock to the system.
But after proving his own doubters wrong in his second campaign, Wilson's confident Trusty will do the same.
In an exclusive interview with Record Sport, he said: 'I think every player is different. Some get a little bit complacent and think it's going to be easy going up to Celtic.
'And it's not. You can't just win a game 1-0 because you're going to get hammered by the press and fans. You've got to win convincingly and play well week in, week out.
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'I think for the lad, he's had his first season, he knows what it's about now. It's just getting into your mindset of what you need to do to be a Celtic player. It's a winning mentality. People don't understand when you say that. You learn how to win.
'You've got to be a winner. You win at all costs. You don't go up there expecting someone to win you the game.
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'I think every player has to go, 'I'm going to win us the game today.' Whether that's you score a goal, whether that's you make a great tackle, whether you block one off the line, that's the mentality you have to have.
'I'm going to win us the game today. However I do it, I'm going to make sure. And that's the mentality I had in my second season.
'And as well, in my second season, what I always told myself when I used to go on the pitch was, I'm going to be the best player today on the pitch.
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'And I think that's what brought the best out of me. I know everyone will have their own ways of preparing for games, but that's something that I told myself in that second season. Every game, right, I'm going to be the best on the pitch today.'
It didn't take a lip reader for fans to work out what Brendan Rodgers groaned on the touchline when Trusty was outmuscled for Dundee's third goal in a six-goal thriller at Dens Park in January.
Wilson said: 'I think it's more physical up in Scotland. Every game against Celtic is a cup final and teams want to prove a point.
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"Teams want to impress, maybe get a move to Celtic or get a move to a bigger club.
'So, you're playing against that week in, week out. It's every single week that you need to turn up and deal with the pressures of being a Celtic player.
'And that's one of them that every team wants to beat you.'
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While Trusty has struggled to get to grips with the rough and physical nature of Scottish football at times, the ex-Arsenal centre-back saved his best displays for the Champions League.
Trusty was colossal at the back in away clean sheets against Atalanta and Dinamo Zagreb, and he even helped keep Bayern Munich quiet at the Allianz Arena.
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Wilson knows that feeling well. He was a key part of the Neil Lennon side that stunned Barcelona 2-1 at Parkhead and reached the Champions League last 16.
And he reckons it's often easier to raise your game against the world's best than in the Scottish Premiership.
He said: 'This sounds weird because people are going to say you play against a better opposition. I think in the Champions League, sometimes it's easier.
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'You might be the underdog sometimes. You're playing against better players, so your game automatically lifts.
'I think when you go back to the SPFL, you probably get a little bit complacent sometimes. You expect that you're going to win.
'I think that's the case sometimes. That's the difference between a top player like Scott Brown and a player who doesn't really succeed at Celtic and moves on pretty quickly.
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'I played with a few who didn't play at all when I was there at Celtic. It's having that winning mentality of week in, week out, turning up.'
Trusty's inconsistent form hasn't been helped by the fact that the rearguard was chopped and changed last season due to injuries.
Wilson insists it's crucial that Brendan Rodgers finds a settled back four and builds a spine of a team he can rely upon for Europe.
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He said: 'I think that was one of the reasons for our success that season. When you build partnerships, the triangle between me, Efe and Fraser, I thought was really strong.
'We always believed in each other. The spine of your team is really important. We had Scott Brown. They've now got Cal.
'Cal was a young lad when I was there. We had Gary Hooper up top. I know at the moment, Adam Idah doesn't play every week. So I think that was a big thing for us.
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'The spine of our team was really consistent and I think that was the bedrock to our success. And then players that came in were all capable of doing it.
'But I think the main thing was that the spine of the team was, it picked itself a lot of the time.'
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Fraser Forster, dubbed La Gran Muralla by the Spanish press after his heroics against Lionel Messi, was often unbeatable in goal for Celtic.
The Hoops could hang their hat on the Great Wall digging them out of jail with some crucial match-winning saves.
Wilson believes Celts have another top-drawer goalie with Premier League-winning legend Kasper Schmeichel.
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He added: 'Being a centre-half, it's the biggest thing. I've played with a lot of goalkeepers in my career, but Fraser was unbelievable.
'You'd think, 'Is he human?' Even in training, he was that good. I played with another keeper, Lee Camp, who again was brilliant.
'But you see what Fraser used to do off the pitch. He was always first into the training ground like an hour or two before everyone else in the gym with the fitness coach and then he was always last to leave.
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'Fraser put it in and he deserved everything in his career that he's had. They've got Kasper Schmeichel there.
'I know Wes Morgan really well and he's played with him and he spoke highly of him. I think he's pretty similar.
'I know he's a little bit older now, but, the games that I've watched, it looks like he can still play that level.
'It's really important to have a vocal goalkeeper and a reliable one who can play week in, week out as well.'