RYAN CHRISTIE was nursing the pain of a groin operation after Celtic’s derby defeat in December.
But he admits the bitter memory of his missed penalty in that 2-1 Parkhead loss to Rangers hurt him even more.
Christie “tortured” himself after Allan McGregor saved his spot-kick with the game poised at 0-0.
Rangers went on to claim all three points, with the Celtic star carted off to hospital for a groin op afterwards.
Christie admits it took him a while to get over his penalty agony, but he is adamant he would be willing to step up again if asked.
He said: “Was it a good save or a bad pen? A bit of both.
“I tortured myself after the game. It’s always easy to think I should have gone the other way or whatever.
“But before each game I will choose a side and tell Stevie Woods, our goalkeeping coach, who always helps me.
“He’ll warn me if I change my mind I’m due a fine. I hit it, but it was not the day for me.
“I’ve no idea if I will be back on them. I would like to be. I still fancy myself after missing that one, but we’ll wait and see.
“I’m sure there are plenty boys who will fancy snatching that ball off me. Callum McGregor took the last one.
“At the start of the season the manager asked if I fancied being penalty taker and I was more than happy to accept.
“We will always have a designated taker before the game, so we will wait and see.”
Christie endured a miserable day on December 29, with an unexpected hospital dash coming after the game.
He said: “It was a wee groin thing. I had to go straight in after the match and get an operation.
“I just felt the pain, saw the doc and he told me we had to go to the hospital straight away.
“It was all a bit panicky and I was gutted with the way the game had gone anyway, so the last thing I needed was being rushed to the hospital and going straight under the knife.
“But it was quite handy how quickly we got it done, because we had the winter break and the trip to Dubai to let it heal without any games. The suspension also meant I couldn’t play in those games anyway, so I didn’t miss out on much.”
Christie insists he’s refreshed and ready to play his part in Celtic’s run-in after a gruelling end to 2019.
He hopes to feature against Aberdeen and admitted he has been surprised at the stick old gaffer Derek McInnes has taken.
Christie said: “I really enjoyed my time under Derek and I have a lot to thank him for in terms of how my career has gone.
“There were so many times at Aberdeen when he was really good for me. He would pull me aside if I wasn’t playing so well or whatever, so I know first-hand how good a manager he is.
“With every season he is fighting a tougher battle.
“With the likes of us and Rangers really trying to step up our levels it makes it even harder for them to catch up.
“Even outside of the football he has done so much for Aberdeen.
“When I was there we were training at the army barracks and now they have a training ground with a stadium to come. So he has taken Aberdeen to a new level.
“Playing at Pittodrie, you do get that sense of history and the fact it is a one-club city helps too.
“They have a massive following. I would say it is the third biggest team in Scotland.
“So there is a demand from the fans for them to keep pushing, but I know how hard that is.”
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Celtic head to Copenhagen for their last-32 Europa League clash on Thursday and Christie hopes it’s the start of a decent knockout run.
He said: “I can’t wait. It will be a really big tie.
“We were excited when the draw was made and we then put it to the side for a while.
“It has kind of crept up on us, but everybody is excited to go over there and hopefully get a good result to take back to Celtic Park.
“Everyone is desperate to play in those matches and hopefully we can go further.
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“We’ve said since the start of the season that we feel we have a point to prove in this competition.
“The gaffer touched upon how Celtic needs to be thought of as a European giant and for that to happen you need to have good runs.
“That’s what we are looking to do and go one further than last season.”
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