THE Christie clan held a rare gathering in Dingwall.
But Celtic star Ryan feared he’d wrecked his Highland homecoming with a penalty miss.
The Hoops attacker breathed a sigh of relief as he buried the rebound to kick off a 4-1 win.
Then Christie joined the rest of the family to celebrate mum Sharon’s birthday at home.
The former Inverness Caley Thistle hero admits scoring against old rivals County was the icing on the cake.
Christie said: “I was gutted to miss the last County game through suspension, as it’s always nice to play against them.
“I was probably the most excited of all the players as I was coming home.
“It was a chance for all the family to come and watch me for once, so it was good.
“To top it all off with a win and a couple of goals against my old rivals was nice.
“I managed to stay up for the night as it was my mum’s birthday.
“It’s a nice change to be able to get home as my parents make the trip down a few times a month.
“I did panic a little bit when the keeper saved my penalty. Luckily it dropped to me again and I was able to score, but I got hammered off the boys.
“It was my own fault. I changed my mind at the last minute, so I have learned that lesson.”
Christie has rarely missed all season, with the Celtic star now on 15 goals and ten assists for the campaign.
He has emerged as one of Neil Lennon’s go-to guys as they challenge on four fronts.
But Christie is quick to point out that his stunning goal return is due to a huge team effort.
He added: “My goals are probably down to a few things, but I have been working hard to add that to my game.
“The manager made it clear when he pushed me to a more attacking position, off the striker or on the right, that I need to chip in. I like having that pressure and responsibility to score and create goals.
“I have my own targets and I want a few more before Christmas, but it’s going well.
“We play a lot of games and the boys around me really help when it comes to getting chances.
“Look at the brilliant pass Kristoffer Ajer played for my second goal against County.
“When you are playing in a team where boys create three or four of them for you every game, I will get more chances than most midfielders in Scotland.”
Christie fired Celtic ahead twice in the first half after Ross Stewart had equalised for County in between.
The attacker then set up Tom Rogic for the Hoops’ third, with Mikey Johnston rounding off the scoring.
Christie said: “It was a good win at the end of a tough week.
“The three points is the most important thing but to score four is a nice touch.
“After conceding the goal, we reacted well as it would have been frustrating to give them something to hang on to.
“We then went up a few more gears in the second half and put it to bed.”
Celtic have won ten games on the spin since losing to Livingston on October 6.
Lennon’s men have scored 34 goals in the process and will be hard to stop at their current rate, but Christie reckons that most of his team-mates wouldn’t even be aware of those stats.
He insists that’s one of the main reasons why Celtic have been so consistent this term.
The midfielder added: “It’s ten wins but I don’t think most of the boys would even know that stat. It’s about constantly looking forward to the next game.
“It is hard. It gets talked about a lot but after a huge game on Thursday against Rennes we needed another big performance today.
“We were straight back in to training and then it was a long journey up the road.
“It’s tough but you need to have the right mindset. We’re happy with the win but we move on to Wednesday night.”
Celtic host Hamilton Accies before the Old Firm Betfred Cup final clash with Rangers at Hampden on Sunday.
CUP FEVER Rangers vs Celtic: BT Sport coverage of Betfred Cup final to last NINE hours
Christie scored the winner as the Hoops beat Aberdeen in last year’s final and would love a repeat.
But the Scotland ace is adamant that nobody in the Celtic team is even thinking about the final yet.
And he knows Lennon won’t tolerate any Hampden talk with an important league game to play first.
Christie said: “We have the mentality to win every game and it has got us into a good place.
“The gaffer says as soon as we let that slip, even for a second, that’s when you get punished and it’s hard to get your consistency levels back up.
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“All eyes will be on Sunday for a lot of people but the league is the priority for us at the moment.
“We showed that with the performance at Ross County and hopefully it will be the same on Wednesday night.
“We want to win and win well as that would set us up for Sunday.”
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