Aberdeen loanee Ryan Christie determined to remain in Scotland picture

RYAN CHRISTIE’s Scotland debut gave him a taste of international football and left him desperate for more.

The 22-year-old midfielder, on loan at Aberdeen from Celtic, was one of three new boys chosen by interim boss Malky Mackay – Callum McGregor and Ryan Jack were the other two – to start the friendly against Holland at Pittodrie on Thursday night.

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The Dutch won the game thanks to a Memphis Depay goal just before the break, but Christie took a “lot of belief” from his performance and believes there is no reason why there cannot be more caps in the future.

“It did feel good out there,” said the former Scotland Under-21 player.

“Every Scottish footballer wants to step up to the international stage, that is the biggest step.

“But it didn’t feel like too big a step up.

“I was delighted to do that and now I need to push on and try to do it again.

“The main thing was not to let the game pass me by.

“It was a great experience and great push for me at club level to try keep my standards high as I can week-to-week.

“Hopefully there are a few more friendlies between now and the next campaign and my job now is to try keep my form as high as possible and keep my face in the picture.”

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Christie acknowledged his decision to move on loan from Celtic, initially in January before returning to the Granite City in the summer, had been vindicated.

The former Inverness player said: “Definitely. I have loved my time up in Aberdeen so far and I am hoping it can only get better.

“The way I have enjoyed it in Aberdeen is shown when you are getting to play international football.

“It is up to me to kick on with my club and hopefully there are more nights like last night for me.

“It was a great night for me and a few other players as well and being at Pittodrie was a nice touch, although the result was a disappointment.

“If we had been a wee bit more clinical in front of goal we could have come away with a better result.”