Ryan Christie has firmly made a name for himself these past few months, but the playmaker felt his reputation was sullied somewhat in the immediate aftermath of the Betfred League Cup final. With goalkeeper Scott Bain on the prowl with a camera phone it was Christie’s moves of a different nature that put him back in the public eye as his dressing room dancing became a social media hit.

“I’ve been stitched up,” he laughed. “I fancy myself as a bit of a mover but that does me no justice whatsoever.”

If Christie has been Celtic’s mover and shaker since arriving onto the scene in the League Cup semi-final against Hearts at Murrayfield, then it has not been without cost.

Public dance offs aside, Christie’s man-of-the-moment status on Sunday evening after his goal at Hamden propelled Brendan Rodgers to his seventh straight domestic trophy with Celtic meant ploughing through his phone in order to thank his well-wishers.

“Sunday was nice and I got plenty of messages from everyone,” said November’s Ladbrokes Player of the Month. “I know how quickly football can change and go the other way so I need to keep working hard. I haven’t been out too much because we have so many games but it is nice and it has been all positive.

“The messages were coming from everyone – [including] John Hughes, my old manager. It is nice to see that people who helped to get you to where you are still have that proud feeling when they watch you.

“It took a while. I had to set aside a good hour of my time on Sunday night to get through them.”

If Christie has been the standout player of late, Kilmarnock may rival him for the quietly in-form club. Steve Clarke has taken the Ayrshire side to the top of the table with Christie particularly impressed at the manner in which Greg Stewart, whom he was a fellow loan player with at Aberdeen, has got his career on track at Rugby Park on another loan stint from parent club Birmingham.

“I’m not too sure why it didn’t go right for him at Aberdeen,” reflected Christie. “He did have good snippets but he didn’t seem to get the run in the team at Aberdeen. I felt he was quite mentally strong anyway. When he went down south from Dundee a few years ago, everyone was aware of how good he was.

“Maybe that’s been forgotten a little bit. He’s definitely shown what he’s all about at Kilmarnock.

“It’s always a strange kind of feeling going away from your parent club but you need to have the mindset that everything you are doing while you are out on loan is for the benefit of you when you back to the parent club. So hopefully it will be the same for him.

“The Scotland squad these days, when it’s going on form, it seems to be working. But if players like Greg are on form there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be called up.”

If there has been a note of concern from Celtic lately it has come from their profligacy from the spot. Scott Sinclair missed a penalty in the League Cup final that was ultimately without cost but Leigh Griffiths miss against Motherwell was more significant as Rodgers’ side were undone by an 88th minute leveller.

Christie netted from the spot in a 5-0 win over Hearts at the start of November but he will not be making a claim for regular penalty responsibilities.

“It was easy for me to take that one (against Hearts) as we were 4-0 up at the time going into the last minute,” he said.

“That’s something that’s at the manager’s discretion. I know we’ve missed a few but the boys who’ve been taking them have a fantastic record. I don’t think it will be changing any time soon. There was no chance of me grabbing the ball off Leigh. He was always going to grab that ball. He was unlucky but most of the boys would have put their house on him to score.

“It was just one of those nights for him but I’m sure he’ll be on the next one and will put it away. “

Much has been made of the seven changes Rodgers made to Celtic’s starting XI for the game against Motherwell. In fairness, the Parkhead side had ample chances to put the game beyond the reach of the Fir Park side in the opening half of Wednesday night’s game but when it comes to managing what is a hectic schedule this month, Christie most certainly won’t be volunteering for a breather.

“I’m fine!” he smiled. “It is modern day football that you have to be able to play every three days. Obviously the recovery we have at the club is top notch so every game that comes round I am feeling perfect. Just being in the starting XI just now and managing to maintain that is giving me that kick and boost. No, I’ll get my rest during the break.

“A lot has been said about the number of games we’re being asked to play at the moment but we just need to win as many of them as possible and, hopefully, by the time we get to the winter break, we’ll be top of the league.”