KASPER SCHMEICHEL will make his Celtic Scottish Cup debut in the fourth round encounter against Kimarnock at Parkhead tomorrow night.
And the legendary Danish keeper will be hoping for a more favourable outcome in the tournament than he experienced in his previous outing while on loan from Manchester City at Falkirk in 2007.
That came in a tie against St Johnstone and ex-Celt John Hughes’ team were turned over 3-0 by the Perth outfit.
Schmeichel, who won the English Cup with Brendan Rodgers as manager of Leicester City when they overcame Chelsea at Wembley in 2021, is looking forward to playing his part as the holders go for their 43rd success in the world’s oldest knock-out competition.
UP FOR THE CUP…Kasper Schmeichel with the Premier Sports League Cup after his penalty-kick heroics in the shoot-out at Hampden last month.
The 38-year-old netminder said: “It’s a great opportunity, another competition that we’re looking to go far in and I’m excited to get going.
”Our way of thinking all season has always been next game and next game is a Cup game, so we put everything that we have into that, and that goes for the same in any competition that we’re playing in.
“I think when you play at a club like this, then you’re going to try and win everything that you can win, so this is a competition that we need to do well in.
“Pressure is a privilege. I love it, it’s what we play football for. I don’t play football to train, I play to play games and be involved in these kind of competitions – constantly testing yourself, constantly testing what our capabilities are and how well we can recover to go again every three days.
“That’s the challenge and it’s a challenge I look forward to and a challenge I like.
“My mind-set has always to be in football to play. I’m not the type of guy who is going to ask for a rest.
“I think if I do that then there’s something seriously wrong. I love playing games, it’s what I live for, it’s the joy, the excitement of being part of big occasions and any opportunity you get to play in a full Celtic Park you’ve got to take it.”
JOLLY GREEN GIANT…Kasper Schmeichel celebrates after another Celtic victory.
Schmeichel admitted watching the Hoops’ 1-0 victory over Philippe Clement’s Ibrox side on May 25 last year and, speaking to Celtic TV, continued: “Any Cup competition, and I’ve been lucky enough to play in and win different Cup competitions around the world, and what it offers is something different.
“It offers the opportunity for lower-league teams to play Premiership teams – and sometimes there are iconic moments in that.
“I watched that Final at Hampden last season, I watched the celebrations and I was taken aback by that because it was amazing to watch.
“And definitely those kind of things are what you play football for. You want to play lots of matches, you want to get to those kind of opportunities where you have a chance to write yourself in the history books and be a part of moments like that.”
Schmeichel, who joined the champions in the summer after his contract at Belgian club Anderlecht expired, kept an eye on Celtic in recent times mainly to chart the progress of his former Manchester City team-mate and close friend Joe Hart.
The towering netminder added: “I watched a lot of Celtic because of Joe particularly. Obviously, having played up here before for Falkirk, I knew about Celtic and everything about it.
“I played up here in a pre-season game and there were 60,000 there, so everyone knows about Celtic and the history, and the grandeur of this club.
“When you think of Celtic, you think of Celtic lifting Cups and trophies.
“That’s part of the history, that’s part of the heritage, that’s part of the pressure of being a Celtic player now and you have to live up to that.
“That’s a really exciting challenge, that’s a great challenge, and we all have to love that pressure, and the history that dictates the pressure, so, we enjoy that.”