RYAN Christie has admitted he is keen to remain Celtic’s designated penalty taker despite his failure to convert a spot kick in the defeat to Rangers at Parkhead at the end of the December.
Christie’s first-half attempt was saved by Allan McGregor - and Steven Gerrard’s side went on to win the Ladbrokes Premiership match 2-1 thanks to goals from Ryan Kent and Nikola Katic.
The playmaker required groin surgery immediately after the game and has only made one start – in the William Hill Scottish Cup game against Clyde last Sunday – since returning to action a fortnight ago.
Callum McGregor scored a penalty in the treble treble winners’ 3-0 triumph over Ross County last month when Christie was out of the team.
However, the former Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Aberdeen man is keen to get the chance to atone for his last effort.
“I’ve no idea if I will be back on them,” he said as he looked ahead to the Premiership match against his former club at Pittodrie this afternoon. “I would like to be.”
“I still fancy myself after missing that one, but we will wait and see. I’m sure there are plenty boys who will fancy snatching that ball off me.”
Christie added: “I tortured myself after the Rangers game. It’s always easy to think I should have gone the other way or whatever.
“But before each game I will always choose a side and tell Woodsy, our goalkeeping coach, who always helps me. He’ll warn me that if I change my mind then I’m due a fine. I hit it, but it was not my day.
“Cal 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 penalty taker before the game so we will wait and see.”
Meanwhile, Christie has stressed that none of the Celtic players are taking a record-equalling ninth consecutive Premiership title for granted - even though they are now 10 points clear of Rangers.
“One of the first things the gaffer said after Wednesday (after the 5-0 win over Hearts) was that we can’t get carried away,” he said. “There are so many games coming so quick that as soon as you start taking your foot off the gas it can bite you. We know how big a game this is and we need to keep rolling out wins.”
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