The American Dream comes true at Celtic as Trusty and Carter-Vickers stand side by side for long awaited first

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Auston Trusty got a kick out of being part of Team America at the heart of Celtic’s defence against Dundee the other night.

But the Hoops centre back knows the return of Cameron Carter-Vickers means there scrap for places in the side is now as tight as the bonkers race for the White House in his homeland. USA aces Trusty and CCV go way back to their times in the American youth set up, having both been part of Tab Ramos’ under-20 World Cup squad in 2017.

But – surprisingly – the pair had never started the same senior match until Wednesday’s 2-0 win over the Dens Park men. The duo went together as comfortably as stars and stripes but the return to fitness of his big international pal has given boss Brendan Rodgers a dilemma ahead of Hampden, with Liam Scales also in superb form. Trusty said: “It was good playing with Cam. I’ve know him for quite a bit now so it was nice playing alongside him. Overall it was really good.”

It looked a solid partnership but Trusty and Scales was also sensational in the Champions League draw with Atalanta in Italy last week. In fact, take away the Borussia Dortmund game in Europe, and Celtic’s defence has been rock solid no matter who has played.

The Hoops racked up another shut out against Dundee – and they’ve now collected eight clean sheets in 10 league games. And it’s been pretty tasty at the other end too, with Rodgers’ men averaging almost three goals a game on the home front.

The Celts gaffer rotated his squad for the Dundee win with an eye on tomorrow’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final clash with high-flying Aberdeen. And it’s clear there is an almighty scrap for places at Hampden.

Trusty reckons the more the merrier – as the intense fight for the starting line-up is a show of strength. As for who gets the nod at the National Stadium, the £6m arrival from Sheffield United said: “I don’t know, I’m not the gaffer. I just show up and do my job. I think everyone here just shows up and does the job if they are asked to play.

“It’s an honour to play for him and this club. You just have to turn up and do your thing and be a good team mate. There is a lot of completion, all over the pitch I guess. But that is professional football.

“If you have competition then it means you are a good team, because you have quality players who are starting, or are not starting but who can be on the bench. It’s a privilege to have players who can come in and it makes no difference. It’s good to have that competition.”

Trusty has shown he’s willing to adapt too. The big defender has tended to play on the left side of the backline partnership and has been deployed at left back at various times in his career. But Carter-Vickers stepping out of the side to nurse a troublesome metatarsal problem meant a stand-in role on the right alongside Scales.

There might have been some initial teething problems, but Trusty has made huge strides in recent weeks – culminating in that heroic display in Bergamo. It’a going to be a tricky one for Rodgers given the ultra-reliable displays from Scales, but the American is happy to do his bit no matter what.

He said: “I’ll do whatever is needed for the team. That’s my mindset and I think I’ve shown my capabilities to play any position along the backline. Whatever it is, I’ll give it my best go. I’ll do whatever it takes for the team if the gaffer asks me to do it.”

The sane goes for the rest of the Celtic squad. The raft of changes the other night diminished some of the usual fluency from their play against Dundee. But it was the kind of routine no fuss win that gets the job done during these hectic spells.

Celtic’s midfield of Luke McCowan, Paulo Bernardo and Arne Engels could hardly be called second string, while wide boys Yang and Luis Palma could maybe be forgiven for trying to impress a tad too much against a packed Dee backline. Either way, Celts didn’t panic when the early goal didn’t arrive and they kept the faith the breakthrough would come.

Trusty said: “It was good. We got the result and that was what we wanted to do. We made kind of a start and had chances in the beginning. If we’d scored those early on the game changes and shifts. It didn’t so it went on to the second half. But we know it’s going to come. We are a confident team. It’s just a moment in time in a game, so we have to keep doing our jobs.

“That’s what we did. Having patience was big. Playing out style of play and having the ball so much, you might not score with the initial break, but eventually we’ll wear down teams and it will go in our favour. You gave to be patient to do your job.”

It was a slightly different challenge to the one Trusty faced in Italy seven days earlier, but one he relished just the same. The 26-year-old has settled at Celtic and is lapping up the succession of big games – with another huge one up tomorrow.

He said: “I love it. It’s such a historic club. You see the passion from top to bottom in the organisation and with the fans, how they truly care. Every game is such an opportunity. Even though it’s game after game after game, it’s amazing and you still have the thrill and excitement every single time. Every game is important – every game is a final.”

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