Celtic midfielder Ryan Christie admits he and his team-mates felt the pressure after losing to Rangers, but turned everything around in Dubai.

In the final match before the winter break Steven Gerrard 's side took a crucial win at Celtic Park to move within two points of the summit with a game in hand.

That meant the destiny of the title was out of Celtic 's hands, but a devastating run of form after the break saw them extend their lead to 13 points.

Speaking on BBC Five Live after nine-in-a-row was confirmed, one of Neil Lennon's key men admitted they had been feeling the pressure.

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Christie said: "Obviously there's always pressure and you feel it going into every game but towards the end of December, getting beaten in the Old Firm game before the turn of the year, it was spoken about so much and everyone thought it was our turn to bow down.

"But I think the trip to Dubai, we've spoken about it a lot, we went out there and just kind of pressed the reset button a wee bit, made sure we were as humble as we possibly could be.

"Coming back after the break we were frightening and Rangers couldn't cope with that.

"To be 13 points clear come the shutdown says a lot."

Ryan Christie has four goals in his last five.

Christie was also asked whether he and his team-mates would have preferred to win the title on the pitch.

He replied: "Of course.

"All the boys were saying the weekend past there that, at that point, we probably would have been lifting the trophy if things had kept going.

"Obviously you miss out on that and a really good trophy day at Celtic Park.

"So of course we'd have wanted to play the remaining games, especially with the form we were in.

"We were playing some brilliant stuff and scoring goals, so it's frustrating for everyone how the season's ended."