Mikey Johnston’s injury problems seem set to continue after Neil Lennon revealed he won’t be available for tonight’s clash in Lazio.
Celtic flew out to Italy yesterday as they get set to take on the Serie A heavyweights in matchday four of the UEFA Europa League. Lazio need three points to effectively save their campaign. The Hoops, however, can all but secure qualification if they nab their first ever win in Italy.
But they’ll have to do it without Johnston. Lennon revealed at his press conference via that the winger didn’t fly out with the squad to Italy (Celtic Twitter).
The frustrating thing about this is the fact that he made the bench against Hibernian on Saturday. That was the first time he had managed a matchday squad since the 2-0 win at Ibrox back in September.
Celtic have no quality replacements for Elyounoussi
Celtic will now be without real quality cover with Johnston sidelined. Mohamed Elyounoussi is the clear favourite to start in Rome tonight. His back-up will likely be Scott Sinclair or Lewis Morgan. Neither of the pair has particularly impressed in recent months.
Johnston’s return on Saturday was extremely positive for Celtic. He was one of the stars of the team during the early stages of the season. Remember, it was he who set up Odsonne Edouard at Ibrox before he was sidelined.
As of yet, no reason has been revealed as to why he’s missing out. Lenny didn’t go into detail as to why he isn’t in Italy. But the fact he isn’t is highly-frustrating.
Johnston started the season on fire. He bagged three goals and was an extremely influential part of our attacking play. He adds real directness that you can argue is provided by nobody else in the squad. And it’s also a blow for the player too, as he continues to try and fend off Elyounoussi for a spot in the team.
As supporters, we can only hope the youngster is only being left behind as a precaution. It’s not out of the equation that Lennon perhaps feels it’s best to leave him in Glasgow. But that’s a difficult theory to back. Johnston remains one of our best players, and not having him in Italy weakens our attacking options substantially.
Hopefully, some clarity is provided on this in the coming days. With such a hectic winter schedule coming up, we could really do with someone of Johnston’s quality being fit and available.
And after initially looking like he’d overcome his knock, he’s mysteriously unavailable once again.
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