Alistair Johnston

He’ll not play



if anything it’s him going so he can train properly again

 

I'll feel much better when he's back fit

 

Definitely, he's Mr Dependable on that side.

 

I think I remember reading he was supposed to be back in training by the end of this international window. Hopefully he is and we get him back on the field before the end of the month.

 

A lot can change in a small amount of time in football, especially at Celtic. Now a veteran at the club, right-back Alistair Johnston knows that only too well.



50 days have passed since the defender's hamstring injury, sustained in Celtic's first leg draw against FC Kairat in the Champions League Play-off round. Since then, the club have been eliminated from Europe's elite competition, faced protests from the support, and have fallen behind in the league table to Hearts.

Johnston's recovery
An eventful time both on and off the pitch, though the 27-year-old Canada international's main focus is getting back to doing what he loves most, playing (and winning) at Celtic. "It's been a couple of months since I've been out there, but I've been good," said Johnston. [Celtic TV]

"I have not had any real setbacks, which has been nice, and I have been doing tons of work behind the scenes with our medical staff.

"It has been difficult watching all of the matches from the side, and as a player, that's the hardest thing to do, not being able to affect the game and not really feeling like you're completely a part of the group.

"We're getting close now, and we're not going to put a timeline on it, but I'm feeling really good."




Though the defender stopped short of an exact date of his return, his manager, Brendan Rodgers, updated Johnston's current status last week during his pre-match press conference ahead of Braga's visit to Celtic Park.

Previewing the Europa League tie, which Celtic lost 2-0 on the night, Rodgers outlined his plan for Johnston's return to action. "Ali will join us probably the week leading into Dundee after the international break, but he is working really well," he said.

For the player himself, he is just happy to be involved in proceedings again, as light as they are at present. "It's been so good getting back out on the grass, smelling the fresh air again and just feeling a football again, to be honest," Johnston said.

"We're definitely ticking towards getting back out there, and I'm just looking forward to getting back out there and just being with the team again.

"Just the training sessions, everything about it, it's something that you really miss as an athlete, and as a competitor, it's tough when you can't do what you really love.

"So that's what I'm really looking forward to."

Credit to Colby
In his absence, Johnston has seen the right-back slot being shared by several suitors, including Anthony Ralston, new arrival Marcelo Saracchi, and, most notably, academy graduate Colby Donovan.

Thanks to a knock of his own, regular back-up Ralston was unavailable for a portion of games, which allowed 19-year-old Donovan to stake his claim, featuring in matches in both domestic and European competition.

Having been namedropped by the young defender as a mentor in recent weeks, Johnston has liked what he has seen from the Scotland U21 international. "He's been great," he admitted. "I think the biggest thing that stuck out to everyone about Colby is his personality, but I don't think that was ever in question.

"Now that I've been in this changing room for the past couple of years and been out, and played at Celtic Park, I know what it takes and what a Celtic player looks like at this point, and he looks like one in terms of the personality and the confidence that he has on the ball.

"That's something you need, especially as a young kid, to go into those kinds of environments like he did in Belgrade and be able to handle the moment and not look overwhelmed. It's been really impressive - he's been like a duck to water.

Johnston continued: "That's something that you want to see because this club is renowned for pushing through young talent, having a Scottish core, having a core that you can look back on as a fan and be proud of because you can look around the team and say, 'that boy's from five miles down the road, he's from my local town,' all these different things.

"That's part of the fabric and DNA of this football club. So, he's done so well so far at taking it all on board. I think he's going to be a great player, and we're really lucky to have him here at Celtic."

Celtic's Europa League 'opportunity'
No stranger to the demands of European football, Johnston has only competed in the Champions League during his time at Celtic, thanks to their automatic qualification in years gone by.

Despite being disappointed that he will not feature in the biggest club competition in Europe this season, the defender is looking at the positives of the Europa League, with the Canada stalwart sensing a chance for Celtic to do well in it. "It's a great opportunity for us, and I don't think there's any other way to look at it," he said.

"Of course, we would have loved to have been in the Champions League, but it didn’t happen. We're in the Europa League, which again is another major European competition.

"We do have a sneaky confidence within our group that we can go out there if we put it together and play the way that we can, we can put together some really good results that can take us into the knockout rounds, ideally, and see where it goes from there.

"There's definitely a confidence in this group, but we probably haven't hit that top gear yet, so that's something that we're working towards."

On-field unity
The word 'togetherness' is not an expression that you could accurately attribute to the club's current relationship between themselves and the support, due to ongoing unrest, coupled with the very real possibility of further protests taking place in the near future.

On the pitch, however, Johnston was quick to emphasise that there is a connection that exists within the club, despite matters off the pitch taking centre stage presently. "It is our biggest strength," he said, regarding the squad's unity. "I don't think that would come as a surprise to anyone.

"We have so many guys from so many different backgrounds, so many different cultures and countries. To see how everyone works together and that harmony that we have is something that is really unique.

"I've been in multiple different teams, different changing rooms and different iterations of teams, but to see this, it's definitely something that bodes well. I think it's only going to help us in the long run.

"It'll be an exciting period here for our whole squad."

 

Reading that reminds you of how important a leader Johnston clearly is in the team as well as flat out being one of our best players. Can't wait to see him back on the field hopefully not long after this international window would be brilliant.