RYAN Christie believes Celtic’s pre-season work will ensure the champions hit their peak early on in the new season, and the midfielder is confident he can replicate the stellar start he made last year.

Celtic arrived at Loughborough University on Monday and the squad have been put through their paces every day with double training sessions.

Christie admitted he and his team-mates have been impressed with the top-class training facilities at their disposal and said the environment is exactly what the team needs to maximise the results from all the hard work.

“The set-up here and the facilities are amazing,” said Christie in an exclusive interview with the official Celtic website. “The gym is unbelievable. When we come away on these weeks there are literally no other distractions, which makes it easier to get the head down and put everything into training.

“This week we’ve been pushed right to the edge. Everyone’s worked hard and it’s been tough. We’re feeling it in our legs every morning but that’s pre-season and you come to expect that.

“The training camps make a big difference. We’re on a strict regime and every part of the day is fixated on making improvements. It’s the same every pre-season. The coaches make sure we know that if we really put the work in, and look after ourselves, it’ll be in our favour when the season starts.

“We’re trying to get up to our peak performance level as quick as possible and then maintain it. That’s something we’ve been really good at over the last couple of seasons. We’ll be looking to start the season the same way.”

Christie was in impressive form throughout last season, and netted his best ever goals tally of 19 in all competitions. The Hoops midfielder bagged a hat-trick in the first league game which helped Celtic to a 7-0 win over St Johnstone at Paradise. And he explaiend how he is hoping to make a similar start when the Premiership kicks off next month.

“I need to keep working hard in training so that, hopefully, come the first game of the season I’m in the starting eleven," he said. "To do that, I also need to stay injury-free which comes back to looking after myself throughout pre-season.

“We have so many amazing backroom staff to help us and give us that extra one per cent. When you have people doing all that for you, it makes it so much easier to look after yourself off the park.

“I love the start of the season for the pure buzz of getting back in about it. It’ll be even better when the games come back around after such a long break and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Christie: Strong pre-season will see Celtic hit the ground running