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ALLOA captain Andy Graham admits he will cherish every minute of today’s Scottish Cup visit of Celtic in case it is his last major game.
The 38-year-old will also relay that message to the rest of the squad to make sure they do not take matches like this for granted.
Graham was part of an Alloa team that put on a brave fight in a League Cup defeat at Celtic Park in 2016 and appreciates there are unlikely to be many more occasions like this as he approaches the latter stages of his career.
Graham said: “Getting Celtic to come and play at our bit, that’s what you play football for, isn’t it?
“It’s why you work so hard at any level, to play against the best so we’re looking forward to it.
“You do cherish these games more as you move into the latter stages of your career.
“The last time we played Celtic it was my first season so that was six years ago and I thought then, this might be the last chance.
“You know what it’s like, it’s the luck of the draw at times, you have to be in the draw in the first place and to actually get the opportunity does not come around as often as you think – when you’re maybe 22, 23 and you think it’ll happen a lot.
“It definitely doesn’t and this will be my advice to my team-mates, ‘enjoy it boys, you don’t know what path your career is going to take and you maybe take things for granted’.
“When it does come around you need to make the most of it and give it your all and hopefully put a good show on for yourself.
“People say they’ll maybe play a weakened side but that would still be a really strong side, they made 11 changes against Real Betis in the Europa League and still managed to beat them. At that level the squads are just full of quality.”
The fourth round clash also has the sub plot of former Rangers captain Barry Ferguson – now Alloa boss – going head to head with his one-time Old Firm rivals.
But Graham insists Ferguson has so far kept a lid on any excitement he has about facing Celtic.
He added: “The manager is just treating it like another game and I would not expect anything else.
“He has just treated them as an opponent and training has been feisty as everyone wants to force their way into the starting 11, myself included.”
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