Upbeat Celtic star's midnight rule revealed as verdict given on 'incredible' Jamie Vardy and big fixture call

Schmeichel has been around long enough to understand how football works and maintains a positive outlook whenever he speaks publicly. The 38-year-old knows that when you are at Celtic, life comes at you fast.

Following the visit of Kairat Almaty in the Champions League play-off first leg, which finished 0-0, Celtic face Livingston on Saturday before heading to Kazakhstan for the return match. Then it’s Rangers. The fixture list does not feel ideal amid chants of “sack the board” due to frustration over the club’s transfer business, but Schmeichel simplifies it for him and his teammates: we can only control what happens on the pitch.

“I think at the end of the day, our job as footballers is to play football,” said Schmeichel. “It's not our job to to go around focusing on lots of other things that that that we don't really have control over. What we have control over is what happens on the pitch and that's where we have to put our energy and I think as a young player growing up, that's what's drilled into you every single day.

“When you when you hear our youth team training, you listen to the coaches, that that's what they're drilling into them, is the fact you do your job and that's all we’ve got to do. So, I don't think we even need to to discuss it because, you know, the nature of football now is you play every third day now.

“So, you can't dwell. You've got to you got to move on. I've said this before, I've always had the rule at midnight, we move on. You know, feel whatever we want to feel. Disappointment, sadness, happiness, whatever the result may be. Midnight it's gone. Next game is is the most important and that's Livingston.”

Celtic happy to keep fixture

Celtic had the chance to postpone this weekend’s Premiership encounter given that it falls between the two Kairat matches, but opted to play instead. Schmeichel’s verdict on that call was unanimous.

“One hundred per cent,” he replied when asked whether he welcomes the quick turnaround. “I think we as players have been conditioned and we are used to playing games every two three days all the time. So I think for us it it's a great thing because we we stay within our rhythm.

“We keep that rhythm going. There's no disruption to our preparation. You know, all of a sudden you're having more days and you got to fill them with training or rest or how do you balance that? But we just stay within our rhythm and I'm glad we have a game tomorrow.”

One name that has done the rounds for Celtic during the whole transfer window is Jamie Vardy, the experienced 38-year-old striker who is a free agent after leaving Leicester City. Schmeichel won the English Premier League with him and was quizzed on whether they’d been in touch given the mounting speculation.

Schmeichel said: “Listen, Jamie is an incredible striker that would make any team better, I think. But I haven't spoke to him about it, though. I don't really know what what his thoughts would be or the club's thoughts would be, but I can only say when I played with him at Leicester that he was an incredible guy and an incredible striker.”