Kieran Tierney has been gushing over Celtic team-mate Ryan Christie after his introduction in the BetFred Cup semi-final on Sunday helped book his side’s place in the final with a win against Hearts.
Christie, 23, has been on the fringes of the Hoops squad this season, starting just two matches across all competitions.
However he won a penalty, scored a beautiful goal and supplied an assist for Celtic on Sunday as they hammered Hearts and kept alive their hopes of winning a third treble in a row.
Tierney, 21, has been full of praise for the former Aberdeen loanee since, claiming that he has never given up despite Brendan Rodgers hardly playing him during his time at Celtic Park.
“Ryan is a hard worker, whether he is in the team or not. Even when he went on loan, he worked hard and it has paid off for him. He came on in the semi-final and changed the game for us. His finish was absolutely brilliant,” said Tierney, as quoted by Celtic’s official Twitter account.
?? KT on @ryanchristie2: "Ryan is a hard worker, whether he is in the team or not. Even when he went on loan, he worked hard and it has paid off for him. He came on in the semi-final and changed the game for us. His finish was absolutely brilliant." #DUNCEL
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) October 30, 2018
OPINION
Christie was phenomenal after he came off the bench on Sunday and if he did not play then things would have been a lot harder for Celtic in that second-half. The former Inverness attacker has surely played his way into Rodgers’ first team plans with that performance. It helps him that a lot of his team-mates are injured or are short of fitness at the moment but Christie has to take these chances and impress on a regular basis. He has made 11 appearances across all competitions this season with nine of them coming off the bench. He hadn’t scored or set up a goal before Sunday, so he has to impress now. If he fails to show Rodgers that he can perform in the starting line-up then it could be curtains for the Scotland international, who will be out of contract at the end of the season and could leave for free.