It was the biggest crowd at Celtic Park since March 2020, and a foretaste of what’s to come in the weeks and months ahead, as the prospect of full capacity crowds becomes a reality from today onwards.

And for Ryan Christie, having the backing of the Celtic supporters will be a huge advantage to the team throughout the season, starting this Thursday against FK Jablonec in the Europa League.

That was evident on Sunday as 24,500 fans inside the stadium inspired Ange Postecoglou’s side to an exhilarating 6-0 win over Dundee, with the performance, in turn, enthralling all those cheering the team on from the stands.

Speaking to Celtic TV after the game, Ryan Christie said: “That’s what everybody’s missed and that was another thing the gaffer touched on before the game, we need to feed off that and it’s a huge advantage for us throughout a season, playing in front of our fans.

'When we play well, they feed of us and we can send them home happy after a result like that.'

“It was a great win. We wanted to start the home campaign on a good foot, the manager was determined about that before the game and, obviously, with even more fans allowed in, we wanted to send them away showing them all the hard work we’ve put in pre-season. I think we did that.

“We started very well, especially in the first half hour – maybe came off it a little bit towards the end of the first half but we started the second half on the front foot and all the boys were brilliant.”

Christie played his part in the impressive win, providing three assists – two for Kyogo and one for Tom Rogic, with his pass to set up the Japanese forward for his third goal of the game absolutely perfect in its precision.

Of course, it was the hat-trick hero who grabbed all the headlines, along with the match ball and the admiration of his Celtic team-mates.

“The gaffer’s put a big emphasis on the attacking players and their final product,” explained Christie, “and I’m obviously happy to assist Kyogo, but I’m more delighted for him.

“Since he’s come in, there are so many obstacles he’s had to get over – obviously the language barrier and trying to adjust to our culture and he’s done all that flawlessly. So all the boys are delighted for him because what a great performance he put in.”

Ryan Christie: Our fans can give us a huge advantage this season