Kenny McLean discusses Celtic man Ryan Christie’s weight and confidence

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Playmaker Christie has broken into the Celtic side of late.

Kenny McLean has told BT Sport Football that former Aberdeen teammate Ryan Christie underwent a training regime to increase his physical stature, which is now seemingly paying off at Celtic.

Christie, 23, has been excellent form for Celtic of late, after breaking into the side under Brendan Rodgers with a number of midfielders out injured – currently including Scott Brown, Olivier Ntcham and Kouassi Eboue.

The playmaker had been afforded the odd appearance here and there but showed just how good he can be by coming on at half-time in the Scottish League Cup semi-final. He scored one, and created the other two in a 3-0 win over Hearts.

Since then, Christie has scored in each of Celtic’s games since the semi-final, finding the net against Dundee in the 6-0 win at Dens Park before scoring a penalty on Saturday against Hearts.

McLean, who played alongside Christie during the latter’s 18-month loan spell at Pittodrie, believes Christie only got his chance due to injury but put his form down to increasing confidence and a regime designed to bulk him up with the Dons.

“He had a training program when he was with us [Aberdeen] to be fair to bulk him up,” McLean said. “He worked really hard on it. I saw that at first hand.

“He does have the ability, there is no doubt about that. That was evident when I was playing with him, but he has got his chance through the injuries. His confidence is growing, he took the penalty when others could have taken it.”

Christie, who sees his contract expire at the end of the season though Rodgers has confirmed talks are ongoing, is likely to be in the starting line-up when Celtic face RB Leipzig in the Europa League on Thursday.

Celtic desperately need a win at Parkhead in Group B of the competition, after picking up just three points from a possible nine following losses to Leipzig and RB Salzburg.

McLean, meanwhile, has managed just three appearances for English Championship side Norwich City since his move down south after suffering an injury to his ankle in August.