Captain Brown's return will help Celtic deal with Christie's injury blow

By Sam Preston

Injuries to a host of Celtic players, including captain Scott Brown, handed Ryan Christie an opportunity to salvage his Parkhead career earlier this season.

The Scottish playmaker was surely in the last saloon when he was thrust centre stage but grabbed his opportunity with both hands to seal a new deal at the club, having proven himself a match-winner.

He was as responsible as anyone for ensuring that the absence of Brown not only failed to derail Celtic but actually came during a period of the season where they recovered from their poor start to reassert their authority as Scotland’s top side.

There remains plenty of work ahead however, and it seems like Christie may not be able to contribute to forthcoming assignments after he suffered an injury blow in last night’s 2-1 defeat against RB Salzburg.

(Photo by Mark Runnacles – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

It remains to be seen how long Christie will be out for, but he left the stadium on crutches and is awaiting further tests on what looked a nasty injury.

Now, after Christie filled in expertly for Brown, the experienced skipper must return the favour and his return from injury has been timed perfectly to allow Rodgers to make a smooth transition, without any drop off in quality.