HOLLYWOOD ENDING WOULD BE JUST GREAT

Classic in-flight movie has Scales ready to play major role in a Celtic blockbuster

- By Michael Gannon

LIAM SCALES spent some of the long journey to Kazakhstan gripped by classic film LA Confidential.

Now the Celtic defender is hoping for a blockbuster display from Brendan Rodgers’ side tonight rather than being left investigating a Champions League crime scene.

Scales and his teammates had plenty of time to kill on the 10-hour journey to the former Soviet outpost bordered by Russia to the north and China to the southeast.

Dipping into the 1997 Russell Crowe cop thriller after a trawl through Internet Movie Database recommendations helped clear the Irishman’s mind for the task that awaits in the playoff second leg against Kairat Almaty this evening.

Scales insists he and the rest of the squad are relaxed and ready to get the victory they crave after a goalless first leg at Parkhead.

He said: “The journey was okay, the plane we travel on is comfortable. We have it to ourselves, we get fed well, so it’s all really professional.

“The fact we travelled on Sunday also helps. That gives us that little bit more time to get over the flight.

“But, personally, it won’t affect me. And a lot of the players are the same. It was a comfortable enough journey to get here so it’s fine.

“I watched LA Confidential on the way here. I have been going through lists on IMDb on the best movies to watch and then picking ones out for the journey. I hadn’t seen it before so I enjoyed it.

“We travel a lot so I’ve been thinking of ways to spend the time on flights and in hotels.