Auston Trusty’s Verdict on His First Celtic Start

Celtic central defender Auston Trusty was delighted to make his first Hoops start in their 5-2 win over Falkirk on Sunday.

It wasn’t pretty at times, but the Bhoys pulled through and eventually broke the Bairns after a considerable scare.

Ross MacIver opened the scoring early on for the visitors, and although Paulo Bernardo equalised, Finn Yeats put Falkirk ahead again on the stroke of half-time.

Celtic then struggled to break their opponents down, but after bringing on the likes of Arne Engels, Nicolas Kuhn, Greg Taylor, and Yang with half an hour to go, Brendan Rodgers ensured there wasn’t a cup shock at the weekend.

One of eight changes to Rodgers’ side that began the match, centre-haf Trusty came into the team, making his maiden start in green and white.

The 26-year-old’s performance was passable, but he didn’t particularly stand out.

Falkirk continually targeted the left side of Celtic’s defence, with Trusty and Alex Valle playing together for the first time.

It is best to fully judge the pair when they play in a stronger starting 11, but Trusty was delighted to get the nod regardless.

“I’m very happy to get my first start here, in this historic stadium [in front of] this crowd,” he said (Celtic TV).

“It’s a dream come true and it’s amazing.

“The first half wasn’t what we wanted to happen, but it’s a group of guys who were still getting the rhythm.

“They came here to get minutes and it’s a group who don’t necessarily have the chemistry but as time went on we started getting that rhythm, and that’s what we saw in the second half.”

As Celtic enter a hectic schedule between now and the New Year, Trusty could get more minutes.

The team was rather settled in the first few weeks of the season, but the weekend signalled the rotation Rodgers will have to make when playing two to three times a week.

Trusty is looking forward to playing more and getting to know his teaMMAtes even better.

“Everyone here has welcomed me with open arms,” he said.

“It’s honestly a great environment and I couldn’t be happier to be here. I’m excited for the future and I’m excited to get close to these guys.”