Celtic defender Alistair Johnston has revealed that he kept his derby debut a secret from his family. 

The Canadian international made the switch from the MLS club CF Montreal to the Scottish champions in early December and signed a five-year deal. 

He arrived in Glasgow not long after making the move and had been training with his new teammates in recent weeks. 

He featured in all of his national teams World Cup fixtures in Qatar which would have given him some preparation to be thrown in at the deep end at Ibrox on Monday. 

On a day where there was a number of under performers in the Hoops team, Johnston was undoubtedly one of the better players on the park for Ange Postecoglou’s side. 

It would have been a proud moment for Johnston’s family to see him pull on the green and white hoops for the first time but he opted to keep it quiet to put his full focus on the game. 

“It’s the one that every single footballer dreams of,” said Alistair Johnston speaking to Celtic TV.

“You want to go in and play the biggest matches, and there’s not really a bigger match than that in the entire world of football.

“That’s right up there with the atmosphere, the intensity, the passion from both fanbases – it was immense.

“And though it wasn’t the result we wanted in the end, we’re happy that we were able to get something out of it at the end and send our fans home with something to hold on to.

“I knew my family have been going a little too crazy if I let them know that I was starting, so I wanted them to wake up at 7am over there to check their phones and see me in the starting line-up and let them enjoy that moment and let me focus on the match.

“So we’ll see what they have to say but, again, I think they’ll be pretty excited for me and obviously happy with seeing their son, seeing their brother out there.

“It was an unbelievable experience and once you get a little bit of that taste, you just want more so I can’t wait for the next match already.”

The 24-year-old will get his first taste of the atmosphere at Celtic Park this coming weekend as the league leaders entertain Kilmarnock. 

Johnston would have been hoping for a victory on his debut but he was full of praise for the mentality of his teammates to go on and score a late equaliser.

“I think it comes down to, first of all, belief from every single player, and from the coaching staff,” he said. “They just instill that in the players, and also just the leaders on the field. We’re never settling.

“Even when we scored that second one, the older lads were saying, we’ve got to push for another one.

“And as the younger players and newer players in the group coming through, when you see that drive and hunger to constantly pick up three points in every single match, and that drive to say it’s not over until it’s over, it just fills you with that confidence and that belief that anything is possible.

“It’s another late goal and it’s kind of a trademark of this team, that we have that ability, no matter how difficult the match is, no matter how many people are behind the ball, that we’re always going to create that next chance, there’s always going to be another one and yet again we’ve proved it on the biggest stage.”