‘Reality of it’: Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers discuss state of play for forgotten trio and lays down goals

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has challenged Mikey Johnston to prove he is capable of making an impact at first-team level between now and January.

The 24-year-old, who spent part of last season on loan at Vitoria Guimaraes in Portugal, was close to leaving Celtic on loan before the transfer window closed. His progress since returning to Celtic has been hampered by a back injury and he has not featured for them since March 2022.

Johnston, however, is now back fit and scored his first goal for Republic of Ireland on Monday in a 4-0 win over Gibraltar, with the Celtic academy graduate stating that his ambition is now to force his way past Daizen Maeda, Luis Palma, James Forrest and Yang-Hjun-jun into the team.

Celtic boss Rodgers, who handed the winger his Celtic debut in May 2017, said: “For me the biggest thing with Mikey was just about being fit. At the end of the window there was maybe a scramble about thinking of going out on loan but he was coming off a really nasty back problem where he hadn’t trained.

“So for me between the end of the window and January he had to prove that he could stay fit and stay robust and build up his football fitness, and then we will see if we can get him some game time because he is a talented player. So thankfully he has been able to do that, he has gone away with the international team and got some minutes, which is great, and we will see between now and January if he gets that game time. But he gets the chance to prove it every day in training, he looks strong, and I am hopeful he might get some game time.”

Another winger who is yet to feature this season is summer signing Marco Tilio. The 22-year-old Australia international has recovered from the injury he arrived with in Glasgow when he signed from Melbourne City.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s cinch Premiership match against Hearts at Tynecastle, Rodgers said: “It’s just time. He will admit it himself, it’s been a really, really hard transition for him. The intensity of the game is totally different to what he is used to, so it’s been a challenge for him in training.

“It’s always difficult, you are a new player coming into a club and you end up being injured virtually all of pre-season and into September. He has started to find his feet in the last three or four weeks. It’s going to take him more time but I am not in any big rush for Marco. He will bring himself to the team as quickly as he can produce in training and over his time here. He is adapting but it’s taking a wee bit longer for him just purely because the intensity of the game is totally different to where he has come from.”

Japanese defender Yuki Kobayashi is another player who is unlikely to feature “I have only got 11 players,” Rodgers said. “The squad is too big, that is the reality of it. So I can’t fit in all of the players even into a matchday squad. But he is certainly someone who is really professional. In fairness to Yuki, he would have gone out on loan before the end of the window and just got injured before he went out.

“But he is training really well, it’s not like he is doing anything wrong. His attitude is fantastic, he is working hard, but we only have a limited number of centre-halves that we can play.”