THE criticism which has been levelled at Celtic this season despite their continued dominance of Scottish football was never likely to faze Scott Bain.

He has come through far worse – like being released by Aberdeen as a youngster, playing part-time for Alloa while working as a building site labourer and getting frozen out at Dundee following a fallout with their manager – during his remarkable career to date.

Yet, the goalkeeper, who kept his 22nd clean sheet at club level this season in the 3-0 win at Pittodrie on Saturday that sewed up an eighth consecutive Scottish title, had no concerns his team mates would be deterred either.

The 27-year-old, a first team regular since competitive action resumed after the winter break in January, believes their strength of character, as much as their ability, is what sets them apart from their rivals.

“I played a minimal role compared to the other boys,” said Bain. “They need to get more credit than they have been getting. Across Europe, you don’t play with a team with more pressure on them than Celtic.

“Time and time again this team just come up trumps and show how strong mentally they are. They are miles ahead of everyone in terms of their mental strength. When the going gets tough and everything is getting thrown at them they always come through. They come through the adversity every time.”

He added: “It’s not about the critics, it’s not about what people say on social media, it’s not about what people say on TV, it’s about the boys in that dressing room.

“People are going to criticise the lads who are attempting to achieve greatness. So far they have achieved stuff that has never been done before. Hopefully they can go on and do that again.

“In terms of the changing room, I think the confidence and the ability never really wavers. The way the boys carry themselves is next level compared to everyone else.

“We have seen what has been written in the papers about how it’s not been the same, how we’ve not been achieving what we’ve achieved before, but we still go on. We’re unbeaten, we keep winning. The Celtic train just keeps marching on. The lads deserve full credit.”

Bain is far too modest. He has played a huge part in this latest success and has overcome a great deal to do so.

It was ironic that Pittodrie was the scene of the victory at the weekend given they were the club who released him as a kid and that the Dens Park club he joined his current employers from were relegated from the top flight hours after the result.

“It’s amazing," he said. "I’ve come full circle. We beat Aberdeen in the League Cup final and now we have secured the league title at Pittodrie. It is a great feeling.

"I think it’s funny how football works. I managed to win the league title at Pittodrie against the team that let me go as a young lad and told me I wasn’t good enough to play for them.

"For me, it’s a fantastic feeling. It shows a lot of young lads that they shouldn’t listen to people, they should just listen to themselves. If they are willing to do the dirty work, do the hard work, they can come up trumps.

"It comes with hard work and people putting their confidence and belief in you. I think the hard work that you put in off the pitch, away from the pitch, with top class coaches and top class players. The results speak for themselves.”

Asked about the fate of Dundee, he said: “I haven’t really thought about it. For myself, it is all about Celtic, Celtic, Celtic and what I can do for this club. It is a fantastic part to be a part of and it’s amazing to be at the pinnacle of Scottish football.”

Bain has performed brilliantly since displacing Craig Gordon at the start of the year, but he paid credit to the players in front of him for the impressive defensive record they have.

"It’s a great stat to have," he said. "We have still got another couple of games to go in the league and it would be nice to get another couple of clean sheets.

"But the whole team needs credit for those kind of stats. We defend from the front and we do that very well. The back four stop teams getting chances and they deserve a lot of credit. If I am called upon to help I am glad to do so.”

“Jozo is a fantastic player. I think over the season there has been a lot of injuries to key players in key positions. It is down to people to stand up and be counted when it really matters and in the last two games Jozo has been outstanding.

“It is just a case of concentration. The team limits the number of chances other sides get. I feel like when they have them I have to be up and ready for that. It is great to make big saves for a big club and feel appreciated.”

Next up for Bain and his Celtic team mates is Rangers at Ibrox - where he made his debut for Celtic in March last year after joining on loan from Dundee when Dorus de Vries suffered an injury.

He conceded a goal to Josh Windass early on after a Dedryck Boyata mistake, but recovered and helped his side to record a thrilling 3-2 triumph. The Scotland keeper admitted he was looking forward to returning to Govan.

“If you wrote the dream script about what was going to happen you would never have believed it," he said. "But I think the goal in the first few minutes actually helped me a little bit, took a bit of pressure of us, allowed us to play. We went on to what was one of the best wins I have had in a Celtic jersey.”