When Ross County placed an offer on the table in front of Jamie Lindsay in 2018, the midfielder had a decision to make.

Having spent the previous season on loan at the Staggies - with Greenock Morton and Dumbarton before that - Lindsay had racked up valuable minutes in the Scottish Premiership. He had also played through a character-building relegation battle which, in some cases, can be valuable to a footballer's mentality. Especially at a club like Celtic - his parent club at the time - where winning every week is paramount.

Despite all that, however, Lindsay took notice of the players ahead of him in the Parkhead pecking order. Scott Brown, Olivier Ntcham, Callum McGregor, Nir Bitton, Ryan Christie. Lindsay knew what a difficult time it would be for him back in Glasgow, sitting on the bench. Perhaps he wouldn't even make the matchday squad.

It's why he was pleased to join County permanently. What followed was a Scottish Championship title victory, promotion and the Challenge Cup in the bag. He also won player of the year and was part of team of the year. Lindsay, 24, has continued his upwards trajectory after leaving County last year and joining League One's Rotherham down south.

Before the pandemic, the Millers were flying and, following the EFL shutdown and early conclusion of the campaign, Lindsay and his teammates secured promotion to the English Championship. Further proof, if he even needed it, that there is life after Celtic and Scottish football even for a young lad who had been at the club since he was 10-years-old.

"We're delighted," Lindsay told H&T Sport. "I've said it to a few of the Rotherham boys, as a player, winning a league or a cup, you want to do it the way it should be done. There's no better feeling.

"We had nine games left and Coventry were five points ahead, so it was tight. But it was tight below us as well, from first to eighth, almost. So anybody would've fancied it. We're just glad now to get it done and dusted, everyone knows what you're planning for because before you didn't know if it would be finishing the season for the Championship.

"Five years ago I was at Dumbarton on loan and when you look at it that way, football is just mad. I've worked hard every day so I feel like I deserve it, but you just never know what can happen. Even when I was on loan at Ross County and then I left Celtic. If you'd told me a year from then that in a year I'd be going into a season in the English Championship I'd have said, no. Not that I didn't believe in my ability but sometimes you just feel miles off.

"It just shows, one good year at Ross County and then Rotherham came in, everything changed. I was speaking to my agent about it and I can remember him coming to watch me at Dumbarton, he must've been like, 'He's struggling here'. A bit of hard work and a bit of luck and things start falling into place.

"When I went to Dumbarton it completely opened my eyes about what life was like in football. I knew then that I needed to work hard, because if not when I leave Celtic - no disrespect to Dumbarton - but I could be leaving and falling out of full-time football. Going to Dumbarton was the best thing I ever done. I knew when I left Celtic, the time was right. I wasn't one of the boys who wanted to sit about kidding on I played for Celtic, because I knew I was never going to.

"The reality hit and I understood that. I needed to go and the managers at Ross County were unbelievable for me, I can't thank them enough. They gave me the freedom to play and express myself. I scored 10 goals, won player of the year and got in team of the year. Won the league, won the cup, so the time I left Celtic was right. And it has paid off.

"I was 21-years-old and had never played for the Celtic first-team so I knew I probably was never going to play. I thought if I sit about for another year, it's another year less that I have an opportunity to go and do something for myself. I loved Celtic, I came through since I was 10, so leaving and not playing was disappointing. At the end of the day, the quicker you accept it's not going to happen and go work hard, the better."

Lindsay has proven himself a top player both in Scotland's top flight as well as down south. And he couldn't have picked a better time. Scotland manager Steve Clarke has been sniffing around clubs in English football in a bid to find some gems he could use at international level.

And while there may still be a number of players ahead of Lindsay in Clarke's thinking, the Rotherham boy is hopeful of an opportunity - though still humble. "It's mad even talking about Scotland," he laughed. "Every player wants to play for their country, of course you do. But at the end of the day I can't sit and think about it, I have to go back to Rotherham and work hard as I always do. Try and hit the ground running and enjoy my season and do well. You never know, football is mad. Two seasons ago I was in the Scottish Championship and now I'm going to be in the English Championship.

"That's proof anything can happen in football, you never know."