Christie 11th hour lifeline
Hoops hopeful star could return to face Gers in Old Firm clash tomorrow
CELTIC are hoping star man Ryan Christie could be given a dramatic 11th-hour reprieve to face Rangers at Parkhead tomorrow.
The champions believe Christie should be cleared to take part in the season’s first Old Firm derby and are monitoring Kieran Tierney’s situation
SCOTT BROWN insists Celtic’s big dressing-room voices need to break the silence and make a big Old Firm noise.
The Parkhead skipper is preparing for a derby like no other tomorrow when Rangers head for Glasgow’s East End.
Having enjoyed over a decade of clashes in the white-hot atmosphere of the fixture, Brown, at the age of 35, is going to face something totally surreal and completely different.
A fixture which is renowned the world over for the passion and intensity generated from the stands will be played out without a single supporter in the stadium.
Brown though believes that the quiet has to be broken by the strong sound of leadership.
The skipper and vice-captain Callum McGregor have been over the course several times before. Experienced new signing Shane Duffy has waited all of his life to take part in the fixture.
It’s more than 10 months since the sides last met but although it is going to be unusual off the park Brown is adamant the normal rules apply when the game starts.
He said: “People like myself who know the fixture well and even people like Shane Duffy, who hasn’t played in one yet but knows what it’s about, we need to make ourselves heard.
“Shane wanted to be here, he wanted to play in these games and it’s a great opportunity for him.
“It’s not ideal to be doing that in an empty stadium but it’s still giving him that chance to pull on the jersey and, hopefully, to put in a good performance as well. It means the world to him, as it does to people like myself and people like Callum.
“It’s hard without the fans, there’s no question about that, but you’ve got to try to make the most of the situation.
“Our pitch is in good nick so with that we’ll try to play football and try to focus on our strengths. That’s what we do week in, week out.
“We’ve had a couple of weeks to look over the St Johnstone game and see what we could have done better.
“That’s what we do every single week, we focus on that, whether that’s putting one striker on the park, two strikers, playing a back three, maybe a back four, whatever it is, we can chop and change.
“We always want to entertain. We want to win, that’s the most important thing, and we want to play attractive football whenever we can.
“We’re well-organised and I think that’s what we’ve been especially good at this season so far.
“Ahead of the game we know how we’re going to play, what sort of shape we’re going to take, what style we’re going to adopt, all depending on the opponent. That doesn’t change whether it’s Rangers, AC Milan, Barcelona or St Johnstone.
“That preparation and focus remains the same. You have to respect every single opponent. Between now and the next international break is huge for us and we need to work hard to get the results we’re looking for. There are a number of huge games coming up.”
While Celtic have seasoned stars within the ranks who know the fixture, there are also a few who will taste it for the first time.
Duffy is amongst that group which could also include the likes of Vasilis Barkas, Albian Ajeti, David Turnbull and Diego Laxalt, who could be in line for a maiden appearance in the top-of-the-table crunch.
Brown has been impressed by the Uruguayan during ing training at Lennoxtown wn over the past week and said: “Diego has a wonderful left foot, he’s e’s got a great delivery.
“He’s fast, he’s got a great attitude and d workrate and he’s s come here to continue improving as a player as well.
“It’s good that we’re attracting players from the likes of AC Milan and I’m sure there will be people behind the scenes at Milan who have filled him in on Celtic and what we’re all about, given our experiences with them in the past.
“It’s great to see players from AC Milan want to pull on a Celtic jersey and want to come and play at Celtic Park.
“We try to make everything easy for the players coming in, when they come from other teams and other countries, to help them settle in.
“You want the best for everyone, whether he’s in your position or not, and we always make sure everyone is welcome at our club. That’s the best thing about these bunch of lads, they’re very open to accepting new faces into the changing room. “We’ve been lucky in recent seasons where most players coming in have actually already known one or two faces before coming through the door. That makes the process of moving clubs easier, whether that’s a wee conversation over the phone beforehand, meeting up for lunch or up at the training ground. “That helps boys settle and having that peace of mind knowing you’ve got a welcoming team and people around you. “We’ve got a very down to earth bunch, which is something the manager, John (Kennedy) and Gav G ( Strachan) make m sure we keep up. u That we continue co to remain humble. hu “I hope that the boys boy who have just come com through the door doo here will be around arou the club long enough enou to experience one of these games with at least some fans in the stadium but wwe just need to do what ’s right for evereveryoney at the moment.” mome