Aberdeen midfielder Ryan Christie admits the frustration of missing next week’s Scottish Cup final means he can’t stomach a trip to Hampden when the Dons take on his parent club Celtic next Saturday.
Christie, who joined the Dons on loan from Celtic in January, will make his last appearance for Derek McInnes’ side against Partick Thistle in the club’s final Scottish Premiership match of the season tomorrow.
The former Caley Thistle player has enjoyed an excellent loan spell at Pittodrie, scoring in the 3-2 Scottish Cup semi-final win against Hibernian and Wednesday’s 2-1 victory against Rangers to end the club’s 26-year wait for a win at Ibrox.
But Christie, ineligible for the cup final, is still coming to terms with the fact he won’t feature in next week’s season-ending showdown at the national stadium.
He said: “I was told if we were to be drawn against Celtic in the semi-final or we got to the final against them I wouldn’t be able to play and I thought it would be fine but when it comes around you realise how frustrating it is.
“I think I’m over it now.
“It was worse straight after the final whistle.
“Being on a high and getting through, all you want to think about is the final. It took me a few days to get my head around it.
“It’s strange because some people say it’s win, win and other people say it’s lose, lose. Some say either way I’m a winner but I don’t really think that.
“That’s me after the game on Sunday. I’ll wish the boys all my luck then go on my holidays.
“I’m not too sure how I’ll feel about the final.
“I’ve been asked about it quite a lot but I’m not sure.
“I don’t think I’ll be going to the game, I’ll be watching it on the couch at home.
“It’s a strange one for sure. I’d probably prefer to stay away and sit in my own privacy and watch how it goes.
“I’ll be pretty excited watching it as I think it’ll be a pretty good game.”
Christie, meanwhile, hopes his former side Caley Thistle can avoid the drop this afternoon when they host Motherwell by bettering Hamilton Accies’ result against Dundee.
He said: “I hope they stay up. I was delighted the other night after beating Rangers and hearing that they’d won as well.
“It’s a strange one because I fancied them even since Christmas even though they’ve been in a poor state, to turn it around. It’s come very late but hopefully they can pull it off.
“It’s just disappointing because the memories I have of there when I left was lifting the Scottish Cup and playing European football. It’s difficult to watch that they’re in a bad way.”