Alistair Johnston lifts lid on Celtic blast off as Rangers displays earn right-back upgrade status

There is a parlour game Celtic fans are enjoying playing when they want to scramble the brains of like-minded supporters.

It takes the form of posing a simple question: when have you ever seen Alistair Johnston turn in a poor performance since his arrival in Scotland? Those that absolutely hate to be stumped on such matters will rack their brains. In reviewing the 24-year-old right-back’s 16 outings since his £3m move from CF Montreal at the turn of the year, they will weakly point out he wasn’t exceptional as Ange Postecoglou’s men overcame Kilmarnock 2-0 at home in the second week in January. Before giving up. As is required for such a poser with Johnston proving such a bulwark in three encounters against Rangers - the first the new year derby draw at Ibrox that marked his debut - the Canadian is now lauded as even an upgrade on the man he has effectively replaced in Josip Juranovic. Even when the Croatian, a crucial contributor in his country’s progress to the World Cup semi-final last December, proved such a darling of the Celtic faithful for 18 months he spent in Glasgow before he was moved on to Union Berlin in a £7.5m transfer as a consequence of Johnston’s arrival and instant impact.

Mention of those Qatar finals brings a neat symmetry to what the garrulous and engaging young man pinpoints as having allowed him not simply to hit the ground running but blooter it and then career along at mounting hyperdrive. There cannot be many newbies to the Scottish game that will have racked-up 15 straight wins after a draw in their first outing within these borders. But then Johnston considers he was oven-ready for the white-hot environment into which he was pitched in through playing every minute for his country in the Gulf that meant he had to measure up against some of the finest footballers on the planet as Canada were far from disgraced in losing to Croatia, Belgium and Morroco.

“Coming straight from a World Cup doesn't hurt,” he said of his stellar first three-and-a-half months in Celtic colours, adorned by his exhilarating displays in the Viaplay Cup final win over the club’s Ibrox rivals seven weeks ago and the recent home derby league win. “You play in three of the biggest matches of your life right there. That was my country's second time ever being in a World Cup. Everything we'd gone through as a nation qualifying to just get to the World Cup was so difficult then to finally make it and play against some massive nations on the world stage was something that mentally prepared me for what I was about to experience with Celtic and especially with those matches against Rangers.

Celtic's Alistair Johnston celebrates at full-time after the 3-2 win over Rangers on April 8. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

“At the end of the day, it's football. It's still 11 v 11, the pitch is the same size and the ball is still round, so nothing changes. Once you learn to block out that noise and get through the first couple of minutes, the emotions, the energy, then it kind of dies down, everything goes quiet for you, then you can just focus on your football. I've got a lot better at that with age so I'm happy that my first couple of matches of this magnitude was when I was 24-years-old and not 18, so I've got a lot of respect for those young guys that get in there and get thrown to the wolves.”

It has helped that Johnston has joined the team that are the snarling, teeth-baring, limb-tearing predators in a domain over which they are lording it. It has placed them within six league wins of posting an all-time highest points total - 109 - for a European top flight. Johnston, ordinarily a man with his own mind, is very much on-message with the club line when it comes to passing the three figures for points…and in the process elcipsing the Celtic’s hauls of 103, under Martin O’Neill in 2001-02, and the 106 Scottish record figure amassed by Brendan Rodgers’ treble-winning invincibles in 2016-17.

“We haven't really discussed that at all,” he said. “It's just been about the next match and how we can get better. One of the interesting parts of our squad is that it is so deep that we are also competing against each other just to be on the pitch in the next match so we have to be so focused on each day at training, just honing in on that stuff, then focusing on the weekend and picking up three points. At the end of the day we know if we take care of business and we play the way we know we can, the results will be a byproduct of that. Of course, if we do that for the remaining part of the season then we have a chance to really break some new ground and set some history. That's exciting but at the same time we're just so focused on each day. Taking the baby steps one step a time and wherever it takes us, it does.”

Celtic already know one destination they are headed. With a 12 point cinch Premiership lead It is now merely a matter of when they will seal the title. Victory at home to Motherwell on Saturday would put them within one win of confirming their champion status. Johnston doesn’t seem fussed their title triumph will be sealed sooner rather than later. Understandable since before the first post-split fixture in the first week in May they have the small matter of a Scottish Cup semi-final on April 30 against a Michael Beale side that have presented their sternest tests. A confrontation upon which their hopes of a domestic honours clean sweep will stand or fall.

Canada's Alistair Johnston tackles Belgium's Eden Hazard during the Qatar 2022 World Cup group match. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

“We just know that if we take care of business it's all in our hands now,” Johnston said. “That's what this group has done so well since the beginning of the year to make sure that they got that lead and not looked to relinquish it at all. I was lucky I came in and there was a nine point gap and we've just been focused on taking care of business week in, week out. We know if we do that we don't have to worry about anyone else. Again, that would be a nice feeling, but we're not going to get ahead of ourselves. There's still plenty of football to be played. Everyone in the league knows that as well. At the same time, I like our spot. I like where we are as a squad and we've still got a couple of guys to come back from injury to really help push over the line. We're in a good place and we're into the final stretch now.”