Caley Thistle midfielder Marley Watkins is predicting a bright future for Saturday’s match-winner Ryan Christie.
The 19-year-old came off the bench to net the winner in the closing stages of Inverness’ 2-1 win against Dundee after Billy Mckay had cancelled out Greg Stewart’s opener for the Dark Blues at Dens Park.
Christie, the son of former Caley Thistle player and manager Charlie, has already been capped by Scotland under-21s.
Inverness manager John Hughes has tipped Christie to eventually earn a big money move away from the Caledonian Stadium and Watkins, who provided the assist for Christie’s late goal, also has high hopes for the teenager.
He said: “The club is taking care of Ryan because he is only young. But he is definitely a great talent and we know what he is capable of. We see what he can do every day in training. He can breeze past someone and we don’t know how he has done it.
“He has a lot of ability. He just needs to stay focused and remain on the right track.
“I have come across a few talented young players over the past few years, but Ryan is definitely up there with the best I have seen.
“He has a good attitude and is a top lad. If he sticks at it, trains hard then I am sure he will go far in the game.
“He just needs to keep expressing himself as he has a spark that can open up a defence. We are all behind him and if he keeps learning he will do well.”
Hughes’ side moved back to second place in the Scottish Premiership, only three points behind leaders Celtic, as a highly impressive start to the campaign continued for the Highlanders.
There was room for improvement in the Caley Thistle performance at Dundee, but Watkins believes their victory was testament to the spirit and determination in the squad.
He added: “It was definitely a pleasing afternoon as we didn’t play too well but we managed to get three points. Conditions weren’t the best. It was windy, it was quite boggy and there is a slope on the pitch which doesn’t help but we stuck at it.
“We knew we were playing downhill in the second half so we just had to stay in the game after going 1-0 down.”
