Aiden McGeady appears slight and walks with the hunch of the natural footballer. In conversation, he speaks gently with pauses for thought and has a tendency to look down at his feet as if he cannot believe a football is not attached to one of his shoes.

He is not, however, a soft touch. He has a sense of his worth. He makes decisions and sticks to them. He is dedicated, talented and opinionated. At 22, he has to be managed. McGeady has always had belief in his ability. It is a staple ingredient for the great player. This confidence, this outspokenness is part of the package. It has to be channelled, even encouraged.

Tommy Burns once chuckled when talking of a youngster he loved. "Aiden," he said, "was chapping on the door asking why he was not in the first team when he was 16."

The mettle of McGeady can be gauged by how his football career has progressed and how he has met the challenges.

A three-hour interview with the Irish internationalist earlier this year provided a fascinating glimpse into how an intelligent, articulate young man goes about his business.

The early years were dismissed quickly with the observation that "I was always a ball player". His father, John, a former professional footballer, watched his son's first training session.

"He said I was dribbling as if it was something I had done all my life," said the Celtic player. It came easily but McGeady worked on his game, too. Many of the twists and turns were fashioned on a playing field at Busby.

The confidence grew.

"You know you have a chance at professional football when teams are coming to watch you when you are young," he said. Many believed he was a cert to make it when he was only 10. The belief was strengthened and the decisions became tougher.

He signed for Celtic in 2002, saying: "I am a fan and believed it was the right thing to do." He chose to play for Ireland. His dad warned him he was making a choice that could have serious implications further on in his career. McGeady, a teenager, was comfortable with both the decision and the resultant flak.

He was soon training with the first team. "When players come up to the first team they go into their shell a little bit if they are taking stick off a first-team player," he says.

"I have had a few arguments. I remember one guy was really getting on my case. But I got used to it.

I then believed I had the ability to be here. I became more confident within myself."

The next challenge was met with this hard-won belief. McGeady worked his way clear in his debut against Hearts at Tynecastle.

He drove into the box and crashed the ball into the side netting, much to the annoyance of Stiliyan Petrov, who had made a run into the area. "The shot maybe was not the best option. Maybe I should have passed, "said McGeady. "But if the shot is on, and I make the chance myself, then no-one should argue with that. I wouldn't have shouted like Petrov." McGeady waved away the Bulgarian's protest. He was not bullied.

The next step was to accept the responsibility of being the player the fans rely on to do something to break the impasse. There is now a roar of expectation when he receives the ball.

That could be a burden on a more delicate constitution. McGeady said simply: "It invigorates me. They know I can create something. And then you go up to the full-back and go past him and it feels even better. The roar increases. I can't describe it. It's just brilliant. Brilliant.

It's what playing football is all about."

But there is another side to the situation. McGeady constantly invites failure.

He seems willing to accept the groans that come if he runs the ball out or is denied by an opponent.

"It happens in football,"

he said with a shrug.

"I hear it all the time. You hear most things in a game. European games are the worst. If you misplace a pass on the halfway line, it's the end of the world. The whole crowd gives a huge sigh - 60,000 people. That's not them getting on your case, that's just a natural human reaction. That's what I would do if I was sitting in the stand."

He is never deterred. "Tommy Burns always said to me it only takes one moment to change a game. One moment of magic. It doesn't matter how you have played. A defender can take the ball off me nine times out of ten, but that time I get around him and cross into the box and we score a goal . . . that makes it all worth it."

This confidence has made the player he is. It has also informed his character. This is a player and a man who rides and accepts challenges. He does not avoid them.

McGeady will survive this confrontation with Gordon Strachan. But his belief and his game may have to grow elsewhere.

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