Celtic Faces Setback as Johnston is Ruled Out Until October
Celtic have been dealt an early-season setback with Alistair Johnston ruled out until October, just as the campaign starts to gather pace.
The 27-year-old Canada international, who only recently returned from a long hamstring lay-off, was forced off at half-time in the second league game of the season against Kilmarnock. A fresh scan has now confirmed the full-back faces another extended spell on the sidelines.
“There was definitely something there, and I think the prognosis is really that it will be some time in October for him,” manager Martin O’Neill said ahead of the Champions League play-off second leg away to LASK.
For a player who missed most of last season, it is a brutal interruption. For O’Neill, it sharpens a problem he already knew was lurking.
Defensive gaps exposed
Celtic spent the summer loading up on attacking options and tracking midfield targets. The back line, though, still feels thin, and Johnston’s absence underlines it.
“If you consider that Kieran [Tierney] is essentially our only left-sided full-back, we’ll have a little look,” O’Neill admitted, acknowledging the need to address the defensive imbalance.
He made it clear, though, that nothing will distract him from the European task immediately in front of his side.
“I really will not concentrate on anything at all until after the game, regardless of what the result is or whichever competition we happen to be in,” he said. “We’ve got some days before the transfer deadline [3 September], and I hope that we will get some people in.”
The message is blunt: reinforcements are wanted, and quickly.
Transfer market, but on Celtic’s terms
Names have already swirled around the club. Ermin Mahmic of Slovan Liberec and Torino midfielder Gvidas Gineitis have both been linked, but O’Neill insisted there was nothing new to report on either front.
He pushed back on the idea that Celtic’s squad had been gutted without proper replacement.
“I was told some weeks ago that we’d lost 14 players and we’d only replaced them with two at the time,” he said. “But I think the whole thing was balanced out. There were some of those players that we took on loan, that were going to be leaving anyway, weren’t going to be coming back. And it was a matter of trying to get a little bit of quality in.”
Quantity, he stressed, is not the answer.
“I think that we could fill up the squad if you wanted to, with loads of names. But it was a bit of quality that we were looking for because that eventually would be, I think, of paramount importance between now and January.”
The bar has been set. Any late arrivals must improve the XI, not just the headcount.
Donovan steps up as right-back cover
In Johnston’s absence, 19-year-old Colby Donovan has seized his chance. Thrown into a high-stakes European tie, the youngster impressed in the 3-0 first-leg win over LASK at Celtic Park, showing enough composure to suggest he can handle more minutes.
Scotland international Anthony Ralston offers another option at right-back, giving O’Neill at least some cover while his first-choice defender recovers.
Celtic now walk a tightrope: one eye on finishing the job in Europe, the other on a transfer window that closes in days, and a defensive unit stretched just as the season starts to bite.
