Celtic winger Mikey Johnston has been in the Irish media after netting his second goal for his country.
Johnston scored the Republic of Ireland’s second in their 4-0 qualifying win over Gibraltar on Monday evening. It was a match that Liam Scales also started.
It’s not a result that will help them to a top-two spot in Group B. However, they do still have an outside chance of a place in the playoffs for next summer’s Euro 2024.
Johnston started the match in Faro and will hope that the minutes, and his goal, could be a springboard to some opportunities at Celtic. He’s yet to play under Brendan Rodgers after starting the campaign with an injury.
“I must have had it the last ten games of the season,” he said of the issue to the Irish Independent.
“My back was feeling a bit sore, we scanned it at the end of the year and we found a stress fracture. I think you’re better safe than sorry with them, take a couple of months out and get it right instead of making it worse.
“I’ve just been back over a month, getting my fitness, there is only so much you can get from training so it was amazing to get out here and I didn’t expect to start but the gaffer has put a lot of trust in me and my characteristics for this game, and it worked.
“I am just working my way behind the scenes to try and get my opportunity. The manager [Rodgers] has got tough decisions to make, he’s got wingers he’s brought in for a few million and it’s up to me to get into the team. I’d imagine he’d take a bit of interest. He texted me before the game, so I think he’s keeping tabs on it.
“I know what I have to do to get into the team and obviously he’s got decisions to make, but ultimately it’s up to me.”
So Johnston’s issue was one he had felt last season while on loan at Vitoria Guimaraes. It was clearly felt that action was needed. It’s just unfortunate that it has made his start to the season under a new manager that bit more difficult.
Johnston does have a fair bit of competition for that berth on the wing. Daizen Maeda and Luis Palma are probably most likely to play when fit, but we also have more unknown quantities like Hyunjun Yang and Marco Tilio. James Forrest is another option while Liel Abada will be injured for the foreseeable.
Personally, I still hold out some hope for Johnston being a player who can offer us something. It’s just a question of whether he can really grab that opportunity when it comes.
It’s great to hear that Rodgers was in touch with him before the match. Given that he gave him his debut during his first spell back in 2017, he’s likely to feel a great affinity for him.
There’s a lot of pressure on Johnston to succeed. If he can find a way to deal with that and stay injury-free, he’s someone who can still offer us something.
In other news, Philippe Clement addresses big gap between Celtic and Rangers
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