ROSS DRAPER breathed a sigh of relief when he discovered Celtic had lost Ryan Christie to suspension.
The Ross County midfielder was preparing to square up to his old Caley Thistle team-mate at Celtic Park on Saturday.
But Christie’s rash lunge at Livingston’s Scott Robinson 11 days ago drew a straight red card, leaving the young Scotland talent sidelined for the clash.
With the Hoops attacker having scored 11 goals in 18 matches already this season, Draper — who’s just back from injury — was happy to dodge an on-field reunion.
He said: “I watched the Livingston game, but switched it off for a bit.
“Then I switched it back on and saw the little red bar at the top of the screen showing Celtic were down to ten men.
“I was wondering who had been sent off and who wouldn’t play against us — and Ryan was the first one I looked for.
“I thought maybe he had been substituted after someone else took a red, but I checked it out and it was him.
“I’m not going to lie, I was quite happy! He seems to have come on leaps and bounds. He looks fitter, physically stronger.
“He is a player I obviously know well, but he has improved so much since I played with him. A couple of loan spells have done him good.
“He has then gone back down there and become top man for Celtic and Scotland.
“If he is suspended it is a real plus for us, but they can bring in someone else and they have a squad that can hurt you.
“Ryan won’t be playing, but someone else will.”
Draper missed County’s final surge to promotion last season after suffering an injury at the start of April.
He made it back for three games in the first half of August, but fresh injury woe struck, leaving him sidelined until a 15-minute cameo at Kilmarnock before the international break.
The midfielder is viewed as so vital to the County cause by his management team that he could well start against Celtic. He is just glad his troubles seem to be behind him now.
The 30-year-old added: “It is a good boost. It’s not nice being away.
“I obviously had the setback at Partick in August, and it has been another six weeks to get back into action.
“It’s good to get back out there. It’s not nice being away from the boys and watching the results come in.
“Hopefully, touch wood, that’s me back and firing again and the international break really helped.
“That’s what this league provides, two-week periods for rehab at certain times.
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“Because we have been doing so well, going unbeaten in the last four games, it probably came at a bad time for us as a team to stop playing.
“It was good news for me, but for the boys maybe not so good.
“I had bone bruising and slight damage to my meniscus. It set me back a little bit. It’s worrying when I hear bone bruising because I was out for a long time with it down in England many years ago, about six months or so.
“Obviously Iain Vigurs had bone bruising last year and was out for a long period of time, so it’s scary when you hear things like that.
“But I’m happy now it isn’t as severe as it could have been.”
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Draper is returning at a vital time. County have proven they can take points off teams expected to finish lower down the Premiership ranks.
Now they face Celtic, Hibs and Rangers in quick succession, with Aberdeen also on the horizon.
Draper said: “The three games coming up are good games to come into and we then flip the fixtures again.
“It’s going to be a tough period for us as we play Aberdeen as well.
“We know we need to dig deep and pick up results where we can. We need to be positive in how we play, and hopefully, we can keep the run going.
“We won’t win every game, but it’s where we want to be, in the top league. We are back where we feel we belong.
“We had a great season last year to bounce back, which was a great achievement, so we’ve earned the right to go and play at Parkhead and Ibrox.”