OPINION
Celtic had it all to do in Valencia on Thursday night, and that uphill battle was always going to be a whole lot harder from the moment full-back Jeremy Toljan was dismissed for a second bookable offence.
From that moment onwards the Hoops were always going to struggle, and there were few positives to take from a night that could have promised so much had things panned a little differently.
One undeniable bright spark in an otherwise gloomy continental trip, however, was the performance of goalkeeper Scott Bain.
More than once, the 27-year-old stopper was called into action to keep his side within touching distance of an unlikely turnaround, and more than once he responded excellently.
One save in particular, a wonderful readjustment of his momentum and a full-stretch cat-like parry over the crossbar, was nothing short of world class.
And after that performance, there can be no doubt that he is Celtic’s undisputed number one.
A few eyebrows were raised after Brendan Rodgers made the decision to drop Craig Gordon following the winter break, but Bain has more than justified his manager’s faith, and must surely push on and assert himself as the Bhoys’ leading shot stopper now.
That’s not to say that Gordon doesn’t have a role to play any more, or that he isn’t a useful asset to the squad, but at 36 his best years are behind him, and Celtic must look ahead to the future.
He’s waited long enough for his chance, and now Bain is showing that the Hoops could do a lot worse than trust in him.