CJ Egan Riley hoping Hibs loan can propel him back onto big stage a year on from Champions League bow

CJ Egan-Riley pulled off a Cruyff turn to escape a sticky situation on his Champions League debut for Manchester City a year ago this month. So there’s little danger the Hibs loanee will fall apart mentally in the face of the Parkhead pressing machine when he gets his first taste of Celtic Park this afternoon.

Egan-Riley might have got a mouthful from City keeper Scott Carson for the gallus move in his own corner during a goalless draw with Sporting Lisbon at the Etihad last March. But the 20-year-old insists he’ll never shy away from playing out when he feels it’s on.

That’s exactly the kind of belief that brought the now Burnley player to Lee Johnson’s attention during the January transfer window. Hibs were whacked 6-1 on their last visit to Celtic Park with Johnson accusing some players of being brainwashed into thinking they can’t beat Scotland’s big two.

But Egan-Riley - who got a taste of playing at Old Trafford in December as Burnley lost 2-0 to Manchester United in the EFL Cup - is determined to show he can play on the biggest stages. He said: “The Sporting game was probably one of the best nights of my life, I was buzzing to play in the Champions League, it’s something I have grown up watching.

“The Champions League nights, the anthem, the stadium, everything, I was over the moon. To play for the team I have grown up playing for, I loved it.

"I played right-back, I had a few tackles. Near the end of the game there was a bit where we were penned into the corner and we started playing one-twos around the back. I did a Cruyff turn, passed it to John Stones, he 'megged someone and we got out of it and the crowd started clapping.

"After the game Scott Carson who was in goals came to me and said, 'CJ, don't ever do