Ryan Christie is the Bhoy who is desperate to prove himself at Celtic

He signed for Celtic last August, then immediately went back on loan to Inverness Caledonian Thistle, and when he eventually came down to Glasgow a year later he was injured.

And then when he got fit, Ronny Deila was reluctant to play him. So the Highlander is desperate to start the season in Brendan Rodgers's team.

Too much time has passed without him actually showing what he can do on a football field.

Christie said: "I don’t know if it was naive of me, but I wanted to come straight here and go right in to to the team.

"I’ve had to be patient but I am really enjoying training now, the standard has been absolutely brilliant and you can see every single player is loving it.

“That spurs everyone on to get better."

Christie has played as part of a three-man attack and it's a position which suits his game.

This is a guy who likes getting forward and wants to contribute in terms of assist and goals.

He said: "I’ve been trying to add more goals to my game in the last couple of season. I probably didn’t score as many goals as I would have liked at Inverness, so it was something I worked on last season.

“I didn’t get too much game time but if I am involved it’s something I’d be looking to do.

“Playing so advanced, you need to be looking at scoring 10-15 goals a season."

The good news for Christie is that Rodgers likes him. He is his type of player, all energy and enthusiasm.This could be a big season for the 20-year-old.

Christie said: "Every manager has their own ideas about how they want their teams to play. We’ve had a few team meetings where he’s explained what he wants and it suits me down to the ground.

“It’s not going to happen straight away, but we are four weeks in to it now and you can see it getting better every day, tactically as well as in terms of fitness.

“He wants a pressing game. You saw it on Sunday. We scored a goal but then got the ball back straight from kick off and nearly scoring again within 20 seconds. That’s how he wants us to play."

And just like every Celtic player, Europe is at the front of Christie's mind.

He hopes the club have six winnable games in front of them, starting on Tuesday in Gibraltar, and then they can get back to the group stages, a place they have so badly missed over the past two seasons.

The good thing for Rodgers is that Christie is just one of over 20 who are dead keen to get in the team.

Christie said: "There’s a week to the first qualifier and it’s like every day you need to impress the manager if you want to be in his thoughts for these games and the season coming up.

“Touch wood I can do that in training and in the games.

“It’s a good thing there’s a lot of competition for places. It raises the attitude of everyone in there, to try to improve and do better.

“The Champions League was a big part of coming here, and getting the club back to where we think we belong.

“Every player wants to play a part in that and have an impact at Champions League level.

“It would be great to be a player who gets the club there and does well, because you would go down in history.

“I have been at Celtic Park as a fan a few times for the big Champions League nights. I was in the crowd for the the Barcelona and Spartak Moscow games.

“When you are sitting there it’s more of a dream to be involved rather than a target.

“The Barcelona game sticks in the memory. As a young player you look at that and think, wow, I wish that was me.

“Beating one of the best teams in the world in front of 60,000 people. It would be incredible to have that opportunity.

“That’s why these qualifiers are such big games.

“Everyone talks about how early they come around but if you can negotiate these rounds and get to the groups then it sets you up for the whole season.

“Hopefully we can get there and I’ll be involved.”