Perfectly cast to star on the centre stage

Early false dawns now long banished, Wilson is hungry to help the club and himself become permanent fixtures in Europe's premier club competition in years to come. "Arsenal and Man United are in it every year and it's no wonder Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes want to keep doing it," he said.

Eexcused from yesterday's William Hill Scottish Cup fourth-round tie against Arbroath, Wilson has made himself indispensable to the Parkhead side on European nights and can fully expect to return to the line-up for Wednesday's home Group G decider against Spartak Moscow.

Considering he was being weighed up for a cut-price move to the Championship as recently as last summer, it has made for a rather remarkable turn of events to see him suddenly putting in consistently watchful, alert displays which have blunted the attacking attributes of some of the best players of the world.

Celtic must equal or better Benfica's result in the Camp Nou against already-qualified Barcelona to progress from the group stage for the third time in their history, and Wilson admits that failing to reach the last 16 would render their heroics in beating the Catalans rather futile.

"I'll always remember that game," said Wilson. "But obviously you don't want to win one like that and drop out – that would be pretty pointless. Getting that win put us in a position to qualify. Even for the Barca players it must have been a bit unreal. Being [Celtic's] 125th anniversary, it was a great night all round. Two of my best mates came, one Arsenal season ticket holder and one at Man United and they said they'd never seen anything like it in their lives."

Wilson may have been linked with a move away from the club during the summer, but he was as perplexed as anyone about the sources of the story. "There were enquiries, but they never came to anything," he said. "I think people just kept asking me if I was going because I didn't play much last season. People forget I came to Celtic not having played for four or five months. I played every minute of pre-season and then the first six games and it took its toll on me. I've come back this season, but it hasn't surprised me and it hasn't surprised the gaffer."

The obvious next step for a player performing consistently in the Champions League, of course, is to make the transition into international squads and shortlists as his clubmates Fraser Forster and Gary Hooper have done, but Wilson is having none of it. "I doubt that very much," he said. "But I'm pretty happy at the moment off the pitch. I'm happy with what I do at Celtic and want to play at that level for as long as I can."

Wilson is likely to get his wish, with 18 months remaining on his current deal, and an option for another year on top.

Quibbling with fans aside, the Parkhead club are a happy ship going into Wednesday's match. But the same doesn't apply to Spartak, whose 4-2 defeat to Zenit St Petersburg was the latest indignity to a club under the caretaker charge of Valery Karpin following the dismissal of Spanish coach Unai Emery.

An assumption has sprung up that Celtic will win comfortably on Wednesday, but Wilson feels the circumstances around the Moscow club make them unpredictable. The first match between the sides could have been rather different had Juan Insaurralde not been sent off just after the hour mark, with Spartak holding a 2-1 lead courtesy of goals from Emmanuel Emenike.

"They can either lose the next couple of games till they get a manager or they might impress and kick on," said Wilson. "We won't take the game lightly because you can't in Europe. Spartak are in the Champions League so by definition are experienced and have top players. When the draw was made nobody expected us to be where we are. We had confidence in ourselves. Now it's there in black and white people are interested. We'll go out there and try to win, like we did against Barcelona."