Celtic Face Early Setback with Alistair Johnston Injury
Celtic have been dealt an early-season blow with Alistair Johnston ruled out until October, Martin O'Neill has confirmed.
The 27-year-old Canada international, who only recently returned from a long hamstring lay-off, was forced off at half-time in the second league game of the campaign against Kilmarnock. Hopes that it was precautionary have gone. A scan has confirmed another frustrating spell on the sidelines.
“There was definitely something there, and I think the prognosis is really that it will be some time in October for him,” O’Neill said, speaking before Celtic’s Champions League play-off second leg away to LASK.
For Johnston, it is a grim repeat. He missed most of last season with hamstring trouble. Now, just as he looked ready to re-establish himself, he is back in the treatment room and Celtic are again reshuffling their back line.
Defensive gap as Celtic eye market
O’Neill has spent the summer sharpening his attacking options and has been repeatedly linked with midfield reinforcements. The back four, though, is starting to look thin.
“If you consider that Kieran [Tierney] is essentially our only left-sided full-back, we’ll have a little look,” he admitted.
The timing is awkward. Celtic are juggling Champions League qualification with the final stretch of the transfer window, and O’Neill is trying to keep the focus on the pitch.
“But I really will not concentrate on anything at all until after the game, regardless of what the result is or whichever competition we happen to be in,” he said. “We’ve got some days before the transfer deadline [3 September], and I hope that we will get some people in.”
Names have already started to swirl. Ermin Mahmic of Slovan Liberec and Torino’s Gvidas Gineitis have both been linked, but O’Neill played down any sense of imminent movement.
He stressed there was “nothing further to report” on either player, insisting Celtic will only move if the right quality becomes available.
Quality over numbers
O’Neill also pushed back on the idea that Celtic’s squad has been stripped bare.
“I was told some weeks ago that we’d lost 14 players and we’d only replaced them with two at the time,” he said. “But I think the whole thing was balanced out. There were some of those players that we took on loan, that were going to be leaving anyway, weren’t going to be coming back. And it was a matter of trying to get a little bit of quality in.
“I think that we could fill up the squad if you wanted to, with loads of names. But it was a bit of quality that we were looking for because that eventually would be, I think, of paramount importance between now and January.”
The message is clear: Celtic will not sign bodies for the sake of it, even with Johnston sidelined and Tierney effectively alone on the left.
Donovan steps up as Ralston waits
Johnston’s absence has opened the door for 19-year-old Colby Donovan, who has seized his chance. The youngster impressed in the 3-0 first-leg win over LASK at Celtic Park, showing enough composure and energy to suggest he can cope with the step up.
Scotland international Anthony Ralston offers another option at right-back, giving O’Neill at least some cover while his first-choice defender recovers.
For now, Celtic head into a pivotal European night and the final days of the window with a patched-up defence, a promising teenager, and a manager adamant that the next signing must lift the level, not just lengthen the squad.
