HAD things worked out differently for Ryan Christie he might have been strutting his stuff in the green of Hibernian rather than the green and white of his current club.

Celtic’s failure to prise John McGinn from the Easter Road side throughout last season’s transfer circus had repercussions for Christie in various ways; had the Scotland internationalist ended up in Glasgow rather than Birmingham it’s doubtful that there would have been a natural opening for Christie to make his mark at Celtic, aside from the fact that he might not even have been there.

“I wanted him at Hibs as part of the McGinn deal if it was going to happen,” explained Celtic manager Neil Lennon, who was in charge at Hibs during the McGinn transfer saga which ultimately ended with a move to Aston Villa. “I’d been impressed with him at Aberdeen. Thankfully that didn’t happen – he’s taken his chance when it came along and not looked back.

“It was maybe [a sliding doors moment] but he’s made the most of it. He’s come in at a really good period of his career and he wants to make the most of it.”

From being on the periphery to finding himself front and centre, Christie has been identified by Lennon as one of Celtic’s most valuable creative assets this term.

It was only in October last term that the 24-year-old forced his way into the team with an impressive display against Hearts at Murrayfield in the semi-final of the Betfred League Cup, a performance that bought him an extended run in the team under Lennon’s predecessor, Brendan Rodgers.

He took his chance – and a bit more besides. Before Christie’s season was prematurely curtailed by a horrific head clash with Aberdeen’s Dominic Ball, an injury that required surgery and the insertion of metal plates into his jaw, the playmaker had made his way into the Scotland set-up and added 11 goals to Celtic’s season.

Christie looks set to pick up where he left off. The midfielder has netted three goals in three games already this term with Lennon looking to widen the scope for Christie by playing him in an advanced position.

“A lot of the time Brendan or Derek [McInnes, the Aberdeen manager] would play him in a three in midfield,” said Lennon. “I like to see him a little bit more advanced in the 10. He can do attacking midfield no problem as well. There’s that string to his bow where he can play a number of positions. I obviously want him in attacking areas because

I think he can open up defences.

I think he’s got goals in him.

“Considering it’s so early he’s just full of energy. I loved the second goal [against Nomme Kalju] because I think he can do that more. He really meant it and it comes with confidence. He’s trying to make things happen. That’s three he’s got and it’s a great start for him. I don’t like setting targets. I think that puts players under undue pressure. I just want him to play as much as he can and stay injury fee as much as he can. If that’s the case he’ll certainly be an asset for us in the season ahead.

“He’s reaping all the rewards of that patience and hard work behind the scenes. He’s a great pro and a great lad. He’s one of those lads you really want to do well for himself as much as anyone else. The injury he got in the semi-final was horrific then he had a bad injury previous to that as well. But he’s taken that rehab time to get physically stronger. It’s a great example to other players to not feel sorry for themselves.

“I’m delighted with [Callum] McGregor, too. I think there are a lot of goals in him and he can score more. He’s got off to a great start. It’s about getting more firepower into them and the more chances they create, the more chances we have of scoring more goals.”

The return leg of Celtic’s tie against Estonian minnows Nomme Kalju is little more than a formality with the Parkhead side taking a commanding 5-0 lead into the game. Lennon is liable to ring the changes in order to give other players game time while resting key players but the Celtic manager has insisted that there is a significant amount of work still to be done if the Parkhead side are to make it into the group stage of the Champions League.

“It’s early yet so we’re not getting carried away,” he said. “It’s a job well done so far. There were aspects of the team and performance I’d like improving. In the first 20 minutes we were tentative and it was a bit of a slow start but once we hit our straps we were absolutely excellent. There’s still a lot we can improve on as we go along but that’s three games out the way where we couldn’t have asked for any more.”