THE career parallels between Declan Gallagher and Andy Robertson may not be immediately apparent, but the Scotland teammates have more in common than you might think.
Both released by Celtic as young players, the pair took the step back to part-time football before clawing their way back to the full-time game and eventually international honours.
Robertson’s star has of course risen at a more meteoric rate than Gallagher’s, but that doesn’t mean that the Motherwell defender has stopped dreaming of emulating his national team skipper, even at the age of 29.
Whether he makes it to the heady heights of a club like Liverpool remains to be seen, but he says that Robertson’s rags to riches story is a huge source of inspiration.
"Look where he is now,” Gallagher said. “He's a Champions League winner, playing for the best team in England.
"He was at Queen's Park and then Dundee United, so he has experienced life at the bottom of Scottish football and is now at the top of European football, so I think everybody can take inspiration from him - even myself, at the age of 29. I can take inspiration from him and just see that if you keep working hard and have dedication that you can go right to the top.”
That belief has never wavered in Gallagher, despite that early blow he took in his professional career.
"You have to believe that [you will make it to the top],” Gallagher said. “Otherwise, it's just pointless.
"If you don't believe in yourself, then you can't expect anyone else to believe in you. You have to have that self-belief.
"When I went down to Clyde from Celtic, I went from full-time football to part-time and I put all my dedication into it.
"My dad basically told me that he would pay for all my gym memberships and the likes, and told me that I had to train like a full-time player and try to get myself back to full-time football.
"And that's what I did. I pushed hard, I worked hard and with dedication and with managers like Jim Duffy at Clyde to help me along the way, I got there.
“Jim was great for me. He told me if I did well for him, he would help me get back into full-time football and that's exactly what happened when I went from Clyde to Dundee."
There may be those who scoff at the notion of Gallagher making it to the English Premier League in what remains of his career, but then again, there were those who would have scoffed at the notion of him becoming a regular fixture in the Scotland set-up not so long ago.
The player himself now feels he belongs in such company after admitting to being caught out in his first few training sessions at the pace and the standard of play, and is confident he would be able to contribute to the cause if called upon for Thursday’s crunch play-off tie against Israel.
“I think a year ago it was a big surprise and I've said before that I thought it might be a hoax, but I think I've settled in well,” he said.
“This is my fourth camp now and the boys have all made me feel welcome. It feels like a family here when you go away with all the boys.
"I feel I've fitted in well and I'm really enjoying it.
"It's going to be a completely different game from the last one. We can't judge anything on the last game.
"We are fully confident in what we have to do. All we do is worry about ourselves and the best team on the park will show that night."
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