Celtic right-back Alistair Johnston was stretchered off at Easter Road midweek, the defender getting a fracture to his face. He went to hospital immediately following the knock but that didn’t stop him from celebrating the late 2-1 victory.
Johnston was expectedly not in the squad for this afternoon’s 2-0 win over St. Mirren, Anthony Ralston coming in to take his place. The Hoops’ number 56 is a dependable deputy, but fans will be eager to see the Canada internationalist back soon.
That will depend on how things go over the next week or so. Indeed, manager Brendan Rodgers spoke out about the defender after Sunday’s game, and gave a potential timeline behind his injury: “We’re just waiting to see again on him”, he said (Glasgow Times).
“The thinking is we’ll have a look in 10 days to see where he’s at. But it could be 10 days to four weeks. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Given the amount of injuries Rodgers has had to deal with throughout the campaign, Johnston being out is the last thing he would have wanted. The ex-Montreal man is the gaffer’s first-choice right-back, but he will have no qualms with giving Ralston a run of games.
The academy graduate was handed his senior debut by Rodgers and is more than reliable. He gives his all for the cause and will look to stake his claim for a consistent place in the team in the upcoming weeks.
