Mikey Johnston has been one of those Celtic players that have risen through the academy and shown a lot of promise. He broke into the first team under Brendan Rodgers back in 2017 when he made his debut in a 4-1 win over St Johnstone.
And on that very same afternoon it was announced that the then youngster had signed a new three-year deal at the club. [Celtic FC]
Johnston has struggled to make a real impact on the team over the last few years, partly down to being plagued by injury, and was eventually loaned out to Vitoria Guimaraes last season where he impressed.
And after returning to Celtic this summer, Johnston was hit with yet another injury blow at the pre-season training camp just this week. Johnston returned to Celtic in the summer and immediately targeted first-team football.
No doubt this latest injury will hamper those plans but he has been backed to get his chance at Celtic despite this setback by former Republic of Ireland international Ray Houghton.
Houghton said, [The Herald], “He reminds me of Aiden McGeady when I watch him. He is someone with a bit of ability about him, who is always looking to take players on. He is very positive, he excites you, he gets you on the edge of your seat.
“I know he has had his injury problems and they have probably hampered him over the last two or three years, but he has done well for Ireland. For a lad who has only recently come in to the Ireland set-up, he has fitted in really well. He looks like he is very confident in what he is doing.
“And the Ireland manager Stephen Kenny certainly likes him. That can sometimes be half the battle for a young player. You need someone to back you and he has got that.
“He came on in Gibraltar in a Euro 2024 qualifier in Dublin last month and made a real difference. France, the Netherlands and Greece only beat Gibraltar 3-0 in qualifying so they weren’t getting massacred by the teams they were playing. We were struggling to break them down.
“But when Mikey came on at the start of the second-half we looked a far better team, much more threatening. He changed things from our point of view. He opened the scoring and we went on to win 3-0. I was impressed.”
“I have seen many players get injury things when they are at a young age over the years. What it does is knock their confidence. I am sure that happened with Mikey. It is such a shame that he has picked up this back injury.
“But being loaned out to Portugal has clearly helped him regain his self-belief. He has worked in a different environment, played in different kind of games against players with a different mentality and experienced a different way of life. None of that is easy to handle and he has.
“I hope he gets his chance. I have watched quite a bit of Celtic in recent seasons. Their fans like exciting players like Mikey. He can do things that maybe other players can’t.
“I think Brendan likes flair players and I am sure that he will give Mikey a chance. He won’t pre-judge what he can do, will want to see for himself what he is capable of. Once he has done that he will make his call.”
Houghton is clearly a fan of Johnston. The 24-year-old saw his form in Portugal be rewarded with a call-up to the Republic of Ireland squad where the Celtic winger impressed last season. How has four international caps and a goal to his name already.
It’s difficult to say whether or not Johnston will make it at Celtic. Certainly, he would have been optimistic and his confidence would have been high prior to this latest injury setback.
There is no doubt that with Rodgers looking to add his own players to the squad this summer and Johnston would have seen the Portugal training camp and the Japan Tour as the perfect opportunity to show why he is worthy of being part of the manager’s plans moving forward.
I suppose, with three years still to run on his current deal, Johnston still has time on his side. It just seems that at this minute and time, luck isn’t. Let’s hope, for his sake, that changes sooner rather than later.
In other news, Nir Bitton backs former Celtic teammate to make history
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