The stars have aligned for Scott Bain this season, with the goalkeeper sealing a permanent move to league champions Celtic after a difficult start to the campaign.
It has been an up-and-down season for the 26-year-old, who started at Dundee and briefly moved to Hibernian before joining Celtic and finally signing a four-year permanent deal at the club.
Bain was frozen out at Dens Park after a disagreement with Neil McCann and did not play a game for more than four months after failing to break into the Hibs team while on loan.
However, injury to Craig Gordon meant Celtic swooped and he has not looked back, impressing in his six outings for the club after being thrown in against Rangers in March.
After finally securing a move away from Dundee, Bain admitted he has been stunned by his own journey this season.
“It’s more than I could have thought when I came in, so I’m over the moon,” he said. “I knew it would be difficult to get game time and I just hoped that once we won the league I might get a few games in the split.
“I think a lot of things have fallen for me this season, and the stars have aligned in the circumstances of me getting here and getting to play.”
He added: “It’s mad. Everything fell for me in terms of going in to Hibs and not playing in that month spell.
“I was on the bench for Hibs against Celtic when Craig got injured and then not playing a game helped me (players are not allowed to play for three clubs in one season) come on loan to Celtic and Dorus (de Vries) getting injured the day before the game at Ibrox let me get in the door and get a few games.”
Bain is expected to line up against Aberdeen on Sunday due to another injury for Gordon, and he will get another chance to impress before the Scottish Cup final next weekend against Motherwell.
It is in stark contract to the season he could have enjoyed at Dens, where McCann’s side made sure of their safety from relegation with a 1-0 win over Ross County during the week, and Bain is still in disbelief at how the season has transpired.
“If you had said at the start of the season at Dundee that I would be ending the season a champion, I’d have said you were mad,” he said.
“It is something that I will cherish this first time.”
