The reason Matt O'Riley went for Rangers Panenka as grinning Celtic star reveals secret he KNEW about Jack Butland

There are plenty of people getting wrapped up in the drama. Matt O’Riley prefers net flicks and chill.

Celtic’s Mr Cool reckons his audacious Panenka at Ibrox last month showed he’s keeping his calm during the intense pressure of the Premiership title race. And he’s hoping his relaxed attitude can rub off on others in the Hoop dressing room. O’Riley has been one of the stars of the season for Celts and is in the running for the PFA Scotland player of the year award.

The 23-year-old is thrilled to be listed but he’s more interested in landing a league and Scottish Cup double in the coming weeks. O’Riley knows the heat is on but he’s determined to keep his cool – like he did with that spot kick in that 3-3 epic against Gers. At 1-0 up, the playmaker stepped up and dinked his effort down the middle while Celtic fans watching on the box held their collective breath. O’Riley revealed it wasn’t a spur of the moment decision – as he always planned the Panenka.

He said: “I was pretty set on doing that, to be honest. 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 in 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 felt even more calm. It sounds strange, but I really