LIVELY RYAN MAKES HIS CASE

Matchwinner Christie gives timely reminder of his worth to Rodgers

ONE look at the Celtic squad would suggest that midfield is an area from which a considerable amount of fat is likely to be trimmed when Brendan Rodgers finally gets round to embarking upon the surgery he promises.

Bearing that in mind, Ryan Christie chose a most judicious time to take centre stage and complete a morale-boosting victory over Wolfsburg with a sharp finish and an assured performance.

The 21-year-old was hauled off during the second half of last week’s abysmal Champions League qualifying loss to Lincoln Red Imps and given his opportunity to atone when Rodgers made 10 changes at half-time against his German visitors.

He certainly made a positive impression, bringing a welcome urgency to the game and raising spirits with a 62nd-minute effort which built on Callum McGregor’s excellent first-half equaliser.

Things are about to get pretty cut-throat at Parkhead and performances will mean everything with players actively involved in a contest, of sorts, to prolong their Celtic careers. Christie did his cause no harm yesterday.

‘As the weeks go on, it will be very clear that I work with a small group,’ said Rodgers. ‘You cannot work well with 30-odd players.

‘The pre-season has given me a chance to assess the players because I still don’t know a lot of them, but there will come a time when I need to align the group and re-focus it into a working group we have on a daily basis.

‘I was really happy with the midfield. You saw how dynamic they were in the first half and I thought Scott Brown was outstanding.

‘I have seen him over the years as a running midfielder, but his intelligence, his aggression, the way he really manages the team on the field, has been very impressive.

‘In the second half, we were excellent as well.

‘We have enough midfield players. I don’t have to worry about losing another midfield player. We have another 20 to pick from.’

Defence, as if anyone needs to be told, is the real matter of concern.

Celtic certainly showed enough in forward positions in this affair to offer encouragement that they will create chances.

Erik Sviatchenko forced an early save from Diego Benaglio with a looping header from a Stuart Armstrong corner before Armstrong stepped in from the left and sent a low shot just wide of the far post.

On 11 minutes, though, the visitors took the lead against the run of play. Anton Donkor released a drive from the left that goalkeeper Craig Gordon did well to parry in the wake of a deflection.

However, the ball made its way to Paul Seguin on the other side of the area and his low shot cannoned off Eoghan O’Connell to give Gordon no chance second time round.

Leigh Griffiths hit the inside of Benaglio’s left-hand post on the quarter-hour mark after the keeper had punched the ball clear from Sviatchenko as they challenged for an Armstrong free-kick.

It quickly became clear something was wrong with the Danish defender, though, and he was replaced by Kristoffer Ajer after the play had been stopped to permit a period of treatment in the penalty area.

For all that, Celtic soon restored parity in spectacular fashion. McGregor saw a pass inside blocked by Seguin and reacted well to collect the rebound and beat Benaglio to his left from more than 20 yards with a delightful curling shot.

Griffiths had the ball in the net moments later only for play to be pulled back for a Kieran Tierney foul on Seguin.

But there are always doubts over the personnel Celtic currently have available at the back and they were left exposed just before the half-hour when Donkor, benefiting from an excellent cutback from Yannick Gerhardt, should have done much better than scuff the ball into Gordon’s clutches from a matter of yards.

He would do well to learn a lesson in composure from Celtic substitute Christie.

With the match having just crossed the hour-mark, the former Inverness Caley Thistle midfielder, who looked lively during his 45 minutes of action, took possession on the left and, thanks to a fortunate break of the ball, was able to skip through two men and leave himself one-on-one with substitute keeper Koen Casteels inside the box.

He needed no further invitation, stroking a lovely left-footed effort into the far corner with the keeper rooted to the spot.