Celtic man reveals he played through major pain after Rangers tackle left him in ‘agony’

Hayes, 39, who now works as a coach with the club’s B team, donned the green and white jersey again last weekend at the Braehead Arena as the much-loved tournament returned for the first time since 1993, with former players competing for the trophy across two days in Glasgow.

After losing 7-1 to Rangers in the group stages on day one, Hayes and his Celtic teammates roared back the following day to set up a clash against their Glasgow rivals in the final, where they had the last laugh, winning 5-4 to take home the trophy.

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However, Hayes was forced to miss the bulk of the first half of the final after a feisty 50-50 challenge with Rangers striker Martyn Waghorn, and he has now revealed that the collision forced him to miss the post-match celebrations as he visited A&E.

"I'm a little bit stiff and sore,” admitted Hayes. “I'm used to running around a lot, but it's the recovery that kills you as you get older. So, yeah, I'm walking around like a tin man. I missed out on the celebrations because I had to go to A and E for an X-ray. I worked with a number of the staff who worked there, and they recommended an X-ray, but I was dying to get home to be honest. I ended up going to A and E and I've got a small crack in my foot.”

While the injury forced Hayes off for the remainder of the first period, he wasn’t prepared to sit out the rest of the game with his side losing 2-1 at the break. Despite admitting it “didn’t feel right” when he stepped back onto the park, he revealed why he pushed through the pain barrier to get back into the action as Celtic recorded a remarkable comeback victory in the Tennent’s Sixes Old Firm.

"It was the tackle [in the first-half] that done it,” laughed Hayes. “But when I got up I also had cramp in my hamstring. I felt terrible. I thought rather than hopping about, I'd let someone else on the pitch. I thought it was one of those ones where it would go away in a minute, but it took a little bit longer than I expected. My foot was really sore. But you know when you get a big tackle, you can't start limping about because it looks like they've hurt you. I was in a lot of agony, I'll be honest.

"According to the doctor, I've broken my foot. Medically at least. But he's not given me one of those moon boots so I'm not taking it too serious. When you play football, you want to effect the game in any way you can no matter what level you're playing. Obviously, it was 2-1 at half-time, and I was just itching to get back on. I took a couple of steps and it didn't feel right. But we scored straight away, and I thought I'd see it through for a couple of minutes. A bit of rest, and when I came back on I felt a little bit better. When Derek [Riordan] scored, the adrenalin gets you through."

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