Right-back Alistair Johnston secured his fourth major honour as a Celtic player on Wednesday evening despite only joining the club last January.

Indeed, the defender more than played his part in the Hoops’ dominant 5-0 victory over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park which secured a third successive league title.

At the back, Johnston was stout defensively. He also got forward, making some eye-catching combinations in and around the Killie box while setting up Daizen Maeda for the Celts’ second of the night.

The Canadian has proved his worth over the run-in and along with his teammates, has stepped up at a key time.

Celtic have well and truly echoed their manager’s words and come alive at the business end of the season.

It has been a long and at times difficult campaign for the champions but they have withstood several trials and tribulations to once again emerge victorious.

After securing yet another league championship for the Bhoys, Johnston hailed the senior leaders in the team and how they have ensured the squad has kept its cool and got over the line when the pressure was on.

He said: [Celtic TV] “We’ve got serial winners from top to bottom in this club, it starts with the gaffer and goes through our leadership in Cal (McGregor), Joe (Hart), and James (Forrest).

“Even when it feels like maybe you’re not going at 100 per cent, when you just see the calm, the poise, no matter how difficult it looks, that’s when you know as a younger player, if you stick to it, stick to the process, focus on it day by day, and you’ll get there.

“Because if they were worried then I’d be worried – but they never were. They were always just ‘keep a level head, play our football, we have the players and the quality to get over the line’.

“I think you saw over these past couple of months – when it got to the business end of the season we took it to another gear and it showed there – that was a champions’ performance.”