SCOTT’S HIT A HOT STREAK IN SCOTLAND
people messaging you and it’s great to be part of that buzz and that day. The most important thing is to win the trophy.
“I hadn’t even thought about this being the chance for me to complete a set of medals. That would be nice.
“When I signed the new Celtic contract the club told me that’s a big factor – it’s a great club to win trophies at.
“That’s what you want to do as a professional footballer and we have great opportunities to do that at Celtic.”
When it comes to cup finals, Christie does indeed have a chequered career. There was the high of being involved in the 2014 League Cup Final and the low of losing to the Dons.
Then there was the joy of winning the Scottish Cup in 2015 with Inverness and a never-tobe-forgotten – or should that be remembered – party. Recently Christie has suffered the agony of helping Aberdeen to two cup finals while being on loan from Celtic – only to be denied the right to play in the final as the games were against his parent club.
He has crammed in a lot of experiences to a short career and just shrugs at the way he always seems to be caught up in some sort of drama.
He said: “Obviously it was pretty frustrating when the deals were done back at Aberdeen. It’s nice to be part of a final I can play in.
“It actually feels good that it has worked out this way, playing Aberdeen in a final.
“It will also be strange because I made a lot of pals up there and they are a great bunch of boys. I loved my time at Aberdeen, the relationship I had with all the staff. It paid off on the pitch in terms of how I played.”
Should Christie and Celtic justify their tag as favourites to win tomorrow then the party will likely be restricted to a lap of honour and an ice bath ahead of a league game at Motherwell on Wednesday.
The fixture list is relentless and Christie accepts that this is the way of it at a club fighting on three fronts at home and one in Europe.
But there may also be a part of him glad that any celebrations will need to be short and sweet. Christie may not now be able to cope with the sort of wild celebrations which saw him lose two days of his life after Inverness won the Scottish Cup three years ago.
He joked: “It was pretty ridiculous. The bus journey home was the strangest event I have ever experienced in my life. I can’t remember much about Sunday and Monday.
“We stopped at Auchterarder on the way home and there’s a video of us chanting on the streets there.
“We normally stopped in Auchterarder for fish suppers but that night there was no fish and chips!
“We then piled into a pub and took over that – it was all a bit of a blur. Amazing memories.
“I can’t give you a clue about how long the bus journey took – I have no timescale for things from Saturday to Monday night!” SCOTT SINCLAIR has learned to love the warm afterglow of a Hampden cup final after his experiences of the big day in England left him cold.
The Celtic ace has four winner’s medals on display at home after landing the Scottish Cup and League Cup in each of the last two seasons.
Tomorrow against Aberdeen he goes for gong number five and it’s a sharp contrast to when he was battling for recognition and honours in England.
At Chelsea, Aston Villa and Manchester City he was often left frustrated from being on the bench, being in the stand or being away from his parent club on loan as his team-mates took the field at Wembley.
Chelsea and Manchester City both lifted silverware while Sinclair was on the books but never near the teamsheet.
And at Aston Villa, the winger was an unused substitute for the 2016 FA Cup final defeat to Arsenal.
There was some joy for the hat-trick hero in a play-off final for Swansea at Wembley.
But when it came to either of the domestic cup finals there wasn’t so much good fortune. Now BY IAIN MACFARLANE in Scotland he can’t stop winning – and Sinclair’s desperate for that feeling of elation to be coursing through his body come tea-time tomorrow.
The 29-year-old said: “Chelsea got to cup finals when I was younger but I didn’t really feel a part of it, although I travelled with the squad.
“Aston Villa lost the FA Cup Final but I didn’t get on.
“When you’re a big club and you reach a final then you definitely have to win it and that’s our mentality here. That’s the expectation on us.
“No one wants to be part of the team which ends this winning run – someone has to lose every final but we intend to be on the winning team.
“I keep all my medals at home. The main one I had before coming here was when Swansea won the Premier League play-off final because I played a major role in that promotion throughout the entire season.
“It’s always great to be in a final and I am sure everyone is looking forward to it as much as I am.
“Every final you reach is a special moment but you need to make it more special by winning it.”