As far as Celtic debuts go, it doesn’t get much tougher than playing Rangers at Ibrox. That was the task given to Alistair Johnston today after injuries and illness meant the right-back slot was open.
The Canadian has only trained with the Bhoys for a few weeks, following his exploits at the World Cup. Thankfully, he did not look out of place and fit in well to the Celtic system, standing up well to Michael Beale’s side.
Ange Postecoglou was satisfied with his efforts and reckons there’s much more to come from the new signing.
As quoted by The Scotsman, the Bhoys boss said: “I thought he was good. It’s a difficult game to throw him into.
“Not only is it a derby, it’s away from home and also we all knew it was a big game for a number of reasons. For the most part, he handled himself really well. He was solid defensively. He was up against a very good player in Ryan Kent.
“For the most part, I thought he handled it really well, but there is more to come from him, especially in an attacking sense once he gets to understand our game. He won’t get a sterner test than that as a Celtic player. He came through it really well.”
Johnston now has a good chance of making his home debut this weekend when Kilmarnock visit Celtic Park. Taking his bow in front of thousands of Bhoys fans will be another special moment for him.
Having faced this ‘baptism of fire’ no challenge should be too great for him in these early stages of his Celtic career.
The next step is finding confidence and attacking form against the rest of the domestic competition and cementing his place in the Bhoys team, which is by no means certain with Josip Juranovic still on the scene and Anthony Ralston returning from injury soon.
The competition for places is healthier than ever.
In other news, Ange Postecoglou points out ‘the beauty’ of what he witnessed from Celtic at Ibrox
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