Kieran Tierney delivers verdict on Celtic teammate Ryan Christie

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Christie shone for Celtic during their Scottish League Cup

Kieran Tierney has heaped praise on Celtic teammate Ryan Christie as quoted by the club’s official website, after the playmaker shone in the second half of Sunday’s Scottish League Cup win over Hearts.

Christie, 23, entered the fray in the second half as a substitute and rose to the occasion in front of the Murrayfield crowd, winning a penalty and setting James Forrest up, before scoring an excellent third himself.

The former Aberdeen loanee has been on the fringes of Brendan Rodgers’ squad for much of the season, starting only two of his 11 league and cup appearances for the Scottish champions.

But he is likely to be given much more of a chance and Tierney continued the plaudits for Christie in Tuesday’s pre-Dundee press conference, stating that his teammate works hard and it is beginning to pay off.

“Ryan has been a hard worker for as long as I have known him,” Tierney said. “He works hard in training, whether he is in the team or not. Even when he went on loan, he worked hard and it has paid off for him, the experience he gained at Aberdeen as well.

“He came on in the semi-final and changed the game for us. His finish was absolutely brilliant, and we see him doing that in training.”

Despite his performance on Sunday, Christie’s future at Celtic hangs in the balance. His contract is due to expire at the end of the season, but Rodgers has confirmed that there have been talks between the club and Christie’s agent.

As quoted by the Record last week, Rodgers said: “The club have been talking to his representatives but I’m not aware of any movement. Ryan is definitely a player that we would love to keep. He is a fantastic player. You saw his contribution.”

It remains to be seen if Christie will be involved in Wednesday night’s trip to Dundee, though Rodgers will be without a whole host of first-team stars at Dens Park.

The likes of Scott Brown, Jozo Simunovic, Cristian Gamboa and Yousouff Mulumbu and Leigh Griffiths will all miss the match, while Olivier Ntcham and Kouassi Eboue are doubts. Dedryck Boyata will return.