Alistair Johnston is fit and available for Celtic again this weekend.
The Hoops return to Celtic Park on Saturday, looking to make amends for last weekend’s loss to Kilmarnock with victory over St. Johnstone.
The overall injury picture has been a troubling one this week with the likes of Cameron Carter-Vickers, Reo Hatate and Maik Nawrocki all ruled out for weeks or longer.
However, there is one ray of light in the shape of Johnston who has completed his recovery after ankle surgery earlier this summer.
The Canadian is yet to feature under Brendan Rodgers but that could change on Saturday. It may even have happened last weekend, had the club risked him on Killie’s artificial Rugby Park pitch.
“He will be available for the squad,” Rodgers confirmed to The Herald on Thursday. “He’s looked good over the last 11 or 12 days.
“We didn’t involve him on the Astro [at Kilmarnock] but he’s had another good week this week so he will be available, which is really good news for us.”
So it does sound like we may have seen Johnston last weekend had the game been at Celtic Park.
Given that he returned at the end of last season and then had a reoccurrence of his ankle issue, it’s probably wise that Celtic gave him an extra week of recovery.
It’s a tricky situation for Rodgers and the medical team to weigh up. We badly need Johnston back involved, especially with next weekend’s derby at Ibrox looming.
But, equally, we don’t want to rush him back too soon and risk him picking up another injury and missing more games.
We’ve not had much luck lately. Let’s hope things play out well with Johnston this weekend. It will be great to see him back.
In other news, Rodgers has also discussed the recent Luis Palma, Reo Hatate and Liel Abada media reports
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