Celtic have received a timely boost with Alistair Johnston revealing he is ahead of schedule in his recovery from injury and could return sooner than expected.
The Canadian defender was initially ruled out until late November or early December after sustaining a significant setback earlier this season. But speaking on the Park The Bus podcast, Johnston admitted his rehabilitation has progressed better than he feared.
“When the original injury happened, I feared the worst,” Johnston said. “Obviously it’s a pretty significant injury still, but I’m actually ahead of where I thought I was going to be.
“I’m not going to put a timeline on it yet, I’m just taking it day by day. I feel really good, which is the hardest part about the whole thing. I feel like I’m ready to go out there and play but obviously there’s still a lot of boxes that need to get checked before I can get back to my full level.
“I’m hoping to be back in the nearer future than originally expected.”
Johnston’s absence has been felt with Brendan Rodgers forced to reshuffle his defence in recent weeks. Youngster Colby Donovan was even drafted into the starting XI at Kilmarnock due to Johnston and Tony Ralston both being unavailable.
A quicker-than-expected return for the 26-year-old would be a major lift for Rodgers, who has endured a turbulent start to the campaign both on and off the pitch. Celtic fans will be eager to see Johnston back in action, but the defender insists he won’t rush his comeback until fully cleared.
He’s been a great player for Celtic. He’s always high up on the assist charts and has chipped in with a few goals, too.
Celtic will be glad to get him back sooner, especially with European games on the horizon. He adds quality and leadership to the right side of the pitch.
Yes missed khun had a great understanding not so with johnstone hope he and Ballawinske have the understanding Ballawinske had two fire of baptism playing on left against the Rangers on the left then on the right on a dry plastic pitch by the time heavy rain soaked it20 minutes in to game
He will.come great result on a anti dry plastic pitches park the bus team well organised team will come on for that tookyime to get over poor result in a poor pitch 🙄