Me upset because Tom’s back? That’s IRROGICAL
BY MICHAEL GANNON RYAN CHRISTIE insists he doesn’t need to fight it out with Tom Rogic to be Celtic’s perfect 10 – as the playmakers can perform together.
Aussie Rogic is back in business after injuries wrecked his first few months of the campaign.
Christie’s performances have eased the pain of his team-mate’s absence and he could have been forgiven for being the one man less than chuffed to see the competition for places cranked up a notch.
But the Scotland star is having none of it. Christie is thrilled Rogic has returned as the scrap for starts will only help the Hoops.
And he is convinced there is room to accommodate both of them in Neil Lennon’s line-up.
Christie will get the nod against Rennes tonight but he’s just pleased Celtic have one of their star turns available again.
He said: “Competition across the squad is always good. I’m delighted to see Tom back because he’s such an incredible player.
“I can’t speak too highly of him – even though he plays in the same position as me! He’s been outstanding to watch since I’ve been at Celtic. Hopefully he is over the injuries and can kick on.
“When I broke into the side last season a lot of the time it was me and Tom playing together. We were both in there which I loved.
“There’s no reason why it has to be just one of us, we can both play at the same time. That would be happy days for me.”
Christie admitted it’s not just him and Rogic fighting it out for the role as Celtic have strength in depth all across their squad.
He said: “I’ve learned during my time at Celtic there’s never any room for complacency.
“There are so many good players in this squad. We are strong in every single position. It pushes people to be at the top of their game because there’s always someone there waiting to take your place.”
Christie knows the entire Celtic side will need to be on it in France this evening against a side that’s spent a hefty wedge on top talent and defeated the megastars of PSG earlier this season.
It’s another tough test but Christie admits Scotland’s recent bruising double header against Russia and Belgium is handy to bank when gearing up to face top sides in Europe on club duty.
He said: “They were two frustrating games but you’re testing yourself against the best and from that comes experience and you become a better player.
“These kind of games on the international stage playing against teams and players from the top level can only improve us as players.
“Rennes have started well in their league so we know how good a side they’re going to be. We’re coming here confident we can go back with something.
“The gaffer’s touched on the away record being something we want to improve on. The squad we have definitely has strength in depth and we have plenty of players who have played across Europe.
“We want to kick off the Europa League campaign on a high.”
Rennes boss Julien Stephen believes Celtic are favourites to nab second spot in Group E behind Lazio. But Christie reckons it’s a four-way shootout.
He said: “It’s definitely a very good group in terms of the quality of teams in it. Even Cluj – we were gutted to get knocked out by them so early in the season, so every team in the group will be very good. It will be a difficult fight to progress through it but it’s something we’re confident of doing.
“We see ourselves progressing into the knockout stages and to do that you need to win games away from home.
“The Europa League is a big competition. I realised it when I was watching the draw. There were a lot of good teams in there.
“That’s a big motivation as well. We have a difficult group but if you can progress then you can run in to some top-quality teams. You never know what can happen.”