Celtic defender Anthony Ralston still has ambitions of making a first-team impact at the Hoops despite joining St Johnstone on a season-long loan, The Scottish Sun report.
The 20-year-old right-back made the switch to the Scottish Premiership side on Monday. It comes after manager Neil Lennon moved to significantly strengthened the position this summer.
Hatem Abd Elhamed was signed in July, with Moritz Bauer also joining the club late last week.
Ralston has found himself well down the pecking order, but is hoping to use his St Johnstone loan as a springboard to future success at Celtic Park.
As quoted by The Scottish Sun, he said: “I’m hoping this move will help take my career forward and show my qualities. Loans have helped other players, like Ryan Christie and Lewis Morgan.
“My ultimate aim is to be playing for Celtic. I’d never give up on that. I want to be able to go back there and show what I can do.
“But I’m here for a year and I want to help St Johnstone do as well as we can.”
Can he achieve that aim?
Mikael Lustig, Cristian Gamboa and Jeremy Toljan all left the club at the end of last season.
However, Ralston was still not able to lock down a first-team place.
It’s fair to say that Neil Lennon still thinks he has a lot of work to do to reach the level required by the Hoops.
However, Ralston is right to pick out Ryan Christie and Lewis Morgan as players in recent years who have left the club on loan, only to return and get significant minutes under their belt.
It’s also a path that has worked well for Callum McGregor and Kristoffer Ajer.
The hope for all parties will be that Ralston has a storming season with the Perth club.
If he can impress at Scottish Premiership level, he has every chance of returning and getting another fair chance to prove himself.
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