Mikey Johnston will miss the first few months of the season, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has announced.
The Hoops winger spent last season on loan in Portugal with Vitoria Guimaraes, and would have hoped to hit the ground running on his return to Celtic.
Rodgers handed Johnston has big Celtic chance in his first spell at the club, but it seems like there will be a wait before we can see the duo team-up again this season.
“Sadly for Mikey he is going to be out for a few more months,” Rodgers said, as reported by the Irish Independent.
“He had an issue with his back, sadly, so he’ll probably be out for near-on three months.
“His job is to convince myself and the coaches that he is ready for a place. It’s the players’ responsibility and they have to show the quality and consistency and robustness in order to play and that is the job of every player.”
The quotes are interesting from Rodgers. It almost feels like he is throwing the gauntlet down for Johnston and saying that the winger needs to be fit in order to make a real impression in the future.
To be fair to the Republic of Ireland international, he’s not getting injured on purpose. He has had some incredibly bad luck over the past four of five seasons and that has held back his development.
Johnston is 24 now and really needs to make some sort of an impression this season. Rodgers may be the perfect manager for him, but he needs a consistent run of being fit.
He will hopefully be back back in September or October and able to offer something new to proceedings.
We wish him a speedy recovery.
In other news, Celtic fans are set for a free-for-all when buying tickets for the upcoming friendly against Wolves
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