The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Christie backs Celtic flyers to get national job done
Ryan Christie wants Celtic’s players to take their domestic form into Scotland duty and deliver two big results.
Celtic have won four of their last five games and have conceded just one goal, with Christie among four Celts likely to feature for national team coach Alex McLeish against Albania and Israel.
James Forrest, Kieran Tierney and Callum McGregor are contenders to start tomorrow, while Scott Bain and Jack Hendry have also joined the squad late as injury replacements.
Former Dons loanee Christie, who started his career with Caley Thistle, feels their improved club form can be transferred to the international stage.
He said: “Going into the two big games the boys at Celtic have a lot of momentum going into this camp and hopefully the manager can look at that and can put us in. We have a lot of positivity and feel as if we’re playing at the top of our game.
“It’s good that we can take confidence from Celtic where we have won mustwin games recently and take that into Scotland.
“The way we are playing for our club means we hope to take that into Scotland’s games. Everyone is at the top of their game.”
For the Inverness-born midfielder, Scotland games were always big family occasions. Friends and family would gather at the Christie household for the big Tartan Army games, even if there were more disappointments to bear than achievements to celebrate.
Christie added: “There is a big Scotland following from the north and I could see that for real when I was called up because of the number of calls and messages I received. It’s nice to get that and makes me proud and hopefully I can go away and make an impact.
“I remember the McFadden goal against France and Caldwell’s goal against France at Hampden. Basically we always had a houseful and a good laugh sitting down watching the football on TV.
“Unfortunately my memories of watching Scotland always end with disappointment after the qualifiers and the aim for everyone in this camp is to be the squad that makes it to a competition. To go down in history would be amazing.
“I had an argument with the boys – I said I was more patriotic than they were. It all started with a debate about weddings. They said they would wear a suit for their wedding and I thought it was normal to wear a kilt.
“KT, Jamesie and Cal were all there and it got to the point where I was pulling others in from outside to try and get more on my side. But most of them said they would plump for a suit as well.” Mikey Devlin is a doubt for the Betfred Cup final after suffering ankle ligament damage on Scotland duty.
The Aberdeen centreback was injured in training earlier in the week and dropped out of the squad altogether on Wednesday.
Should Devlin indeed miss the showdown with Celtic on December 2, it would likely mean Andy Considine partnering Scott McKenna at the heart of the Dons defence. Other centreback options Mark Reynolds and Tommie Hoban remain out longterm with knee and shoulder problems.
“The aim is to be the squad that makes it to a competition”