RYAN Christie was delighted to help book Celtic’s place in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup yesterday (Sunday), when Neil Lennon’s men beat St Johnstone 1-0 at McDiarmid Park. Now, the Hoops turn their attention to Wednesday’s trip to Livingston in the league, which the midfielder said is now he and his team-mates’ sole focus.

Christie claimed the strike that sunk the Saints in Perthshire - despite some initial confusion when Christopher Jullien threw himself at Christie's inswinging free-kick in front of goal. But having been given the goal, Christie's tally for the season so far is now up to 19.

While delighted to get another strike under his belt, the 25-year-old admitted progression to the semi-final, and another trip to Hampden, was all that mattered. He likewise expects another tough encounter with Aberdeen, who the Hoops met in last year’s semi-final.

“I was just happy to see it go in,” said Christie of yesterday’s goal at St Johnstone. “Chris Jullien said he didn’t get a touch, but more importantly we got it over the line in what was a difficult game.

"In that situation, I’m just trying to put the ball into the area. It doesn’t matter who gets the goal, but we managed to see it out. Now we can prepare for another trip to Hampden, which we can be happy about.

“It was always going to be a tough draw, and I’m sure they’ll be up for it. We can park the Scottish Cup for now, though, and we’ve got a big game coming up on Wednesday.”

Having spent some time at Aberdeen on loan earlier in his career, Christie understands the Dons’ inner workings more than most. As for Celtic’s current domestic cup form – now 34 wins on the bounce – Christie said that, while impressive, it isn’t something they consider game-to-game.

He added: “We all know how good a team Aberdeen are. When the game comes around, we need to be spot on and we’ll also put all the previous form behind us and focus solely on that game. It was always going to be frustrating against St Johnstone, but when you finally break the deadlock you feel that relief and then need to shut up shop at the other end.

“We don’t take anything into consideration going into these games. After you win, the records are nice to see, but we don’t pay them any mind ahead of the big games. After the disappointment of last Thursday, it was great to bounce back with a win and another trip to Hampden.

“Now, we turn our full attention to Wednesday and to the trip to Livingston. That’ll be tough, and we need to be on our game and hopefully get a win.”

Ryan Christie: Cup progression great but focus is now on Livingston