Familiar challenge for Ryan

Celtic v Aberdeen

CELTIC midfielder Ryan Christie will see plenty of familiar faces today against Aberdeen at Hampden Park.

The 23-year-old had two loan spells at Pittodrie after signing for the Hoops from Inverness in 2015 but he has established himself in Brendan Rodgers’ side this season, as well as forcing his way into Alex Mcleish’s Scotland squad.

Thursday’s 1-0 Europa League win over Rosenborg in Trondheim, means one point in Celtic’s final Group B fixture against Salzburg guarantees them a place in the last 32.

Now Christie (left) anticipates a “strange” afternoon against his former teammates, as Celtic look to defend their trophy.

“It is a big week,” said Christie, who was on the bench for September’s 1-0 Premiership home win over Aberdeen.

“We wanted to get a win in the first game and we did that. Now it is the big one at Hampden.

“It will be a strange one coming up against Aberdeen if I do play.

“But everyone at the club wants to win trophies obviously and if we get one so early in the season we will be delighted with that.”

Christie paid tribute to Dons boss Derek Mcinnes and his staff for helping him in his Celtic career.

He said: “I can’t really say thank you enough to all the staff up in Aberdeen because I loved my time up there.

“It was a huge for my development.”