CHARLIE Christie reckons his son Ryan's knee injury might have been a blessing in disguise - because it is allowing him to acclimatise to his new life at Celtic more quickly.

The 20-year-old, who signed for the Parkhead club on summer deadline day but was promptly loaned back to Inverness Caledonian Thistle, has been working his way back to fitness at Lennoxtown since damaging the joint for the Highlanders against Motherwell at the start of November.

Now back running, he is hoping to be back in full training by the end of the month and while his dad freely admits he is biased, he feels he can provide the spark which Celtic have maybe been missing in recent times.

"Obviously it wasn't ideal with the injury, that certainly wasn't the plan, but Celtic have got more expertise than we do up here at Inverness to deal with these sorts of things and his rehab has gone really well," said Christie Snr, the former Celtic player who is head of youth development at the Highland Club.

"In one way, it has been a cloud with a silver lining. While the injury was a blow, it has forced his hand a little bit.

"He has gone down there, settled very well, got to know all the guys and is feeling more comfortable going in and out of Lennoxtown.

"He was telling me about all the weights he was lifting, he is quite proud of himself," added Christie Snr.

"He showed me a video of himself and Charlie Mulgrew working out in the gym, so he has got to know the guys.

"His knee looks very strong, he has worked very hard in the gym and I think going forward that will serve him very well.

"He says they are a really nice bunch of guys, who have made him feel welcome and I think the physio staff in particular have been a credit to Celtic.

"I have been delighted by it all, because I was quite wary myself of him going down there."

Christie Senior moved to Celtic in September 1987, but with Frank McAvennie and Andy Walker in excellent form, he was unable to break into Billy McNeill's double winning team.

"With 75 senior appearances under his belt, and a Scottish Cup winners medal under his belt, Charlie feels that Ryan's prospects are far brighter than his were, even if the club have a habit of collecting players creative players capable of operating off the front such as Kris Commons, Tom Rogic, Scott Allan, Stefan Johansen, Gary Mackay-Steven and James Forrest.

"He is in a far better position than me," said Charlie. "I had just won the Highland League, but that was non-league, remember?

"Ryan is playing at a far higher level than I was and has far better foundations to go down and settle at Celtic than I had. He is a year older than I was as well.

"Looking back on my time, it was very difficult," Christie Snr added. "I played in a fantastic Celtic team that did the double and was team of the year, so it was a great time to be there, but looking back it would probably have been better if I had gone down two or three years later.

"At the time I was there it was Frank McAvennie and Andy Walker who were in and they played the whole season with hardly any injuries.

"There were only two subs in Scottish football at that time so getting in the first team was difficult and I did find it frustrating because I was doing so well in my first season in the reserves.

"But Ryan is far better placed, he has numerous first team games under his belt, and showed in the semi-final last year at Hampden what he is capable of. There is a huge element of luck involved, being in the right place at the right time, and he knows all that.

"But he was keen to give it a go and feels he is good enough if he gets himself 100 per cent that he is good enough to play for Celtic and that is a big thing."

While the onus may be on the start of next season and the Champions League qualifiers, both father and son hope that the Christie name can start to make an impact on the remainder of this term.

"I don't know how much he will figure between the end of February and the end of the season but hopefully he will figure a bit," said Christie Snr.

"I am obviously biased but I think he is good enough to make an impression, and sometimes when you have seen Celtic recently they have maybe lacked that wee bit of spark. Kris Commons has been injured, so they have maybe missed that spark at times, and now it is Scott Brown, so there maybe is a wee hole for a player who can produce that spark.

"The good thing is that he is in there now, he is a Celtic player, getting used to their way of training, the higher tempo.

"He will hit the ground running in pre-season, but I know he is desperate to make an impression in the remainder of this season."