KRIS AJER’S celebrations on Sunday afternoon at Hampden painted a picture of unity at Celtic as the Parkhead side claimed a quadruple treble. If there has been discord and disharmony this term around the club, 21-year-old winger Mikey Johnston has maintained that it has not been within the first-team squad.
“It has never been a question from the inside,” he said. “We have always been together. This is something that has been about in the press but it is not true. Everyone has been together. Things haven’t gone our way this season but we all want to turn it around.”
In order to do that, Johnstone has called on the Parkhead side need to block out the noise and take a single focus into games.
The 21-year-old has had to watch this season largely from the side lines after undergoing surgery for an unusual calf problem. He has remerged into the side and is keen to play a role in dragging Neil Lennon’s team back into the title race where they currently trail Rangers by 16 points.
It has been an odd season so far with Celtic making history at the weekend while also facing pressures rarely witnessed in recent decades at the club.
The celebrations in the wake of Sunday’s Scottish Cup success were muted given the current restrictions as well as the cluttered fixture card.
READ MORE: Celtic in double injury blow as Neil Lennon confirms two top stars OUT of Ross County clash
“The celebrations wasn’t much, to be fair,” said Johnston. “We were in the next day and there are all the social distancing protocols so it wasn’t as good as we would really have hoped for.
“It is positive going forward that we have won the game but every single week there is pressure on us, but this group has dealt with pressure tremendously over the last few years.
“We are just focussing on each match at a time. We have been unlucky at stages but we are just focusing on one game at a time and we need to pick up points every week. We are just focusing on ourselves. At the moment we are just taking each game as it comes.”
Johnston’s own focus is ensuring he has a role in the latter stages of the campaign.
“The amount of work you have to put in goes unnoticed, doing the rehab and stuff,” he said. “It was a lot to get myself back and into the team.
“I done my knee at St Johnstone which was a three-month thing but I had an ongoing calf issue so I had to have surgery to get it sorted. It should have been at the start of the virus because of everything that was going on it got delayed a bit.
“I had a problem with the blood flow in my legs and they had to release it. It wasn’t anything drastic in terms of surgery.
“I don’t think it’s very common, but I am glad it’s behind me. I am 100% fit now.
“Every player has injuries and it’s about how you bounce back. You either sink or swim. I am back, working hard and trying to get fit. Hopefully I can bring something different to the team and add a bit of what we’ve been missing.
“I think there is always responsibility playing for Celtic and you need to be big enough and man enough to step up to the challenge. I definitely think I have something to bring to the team.
“There is always pressure on Celtic teams and we need to be man enough to deal with it. Every game is vital to us and I do think we are capable of going on a run.
“We have shown that in the past and it’s the same team. We have shown we are winners and I feel we can win these games.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel