Although he and a few of his teammates started and contributed to Celtic’s 3-1 win over Kilmarnock at the weekend, Alistair Johnston has insisted Kyogo and Reo Hatate are now his ‘rivals’ going into the international break.
The right-back’s country, Canada, is set to face Japan in Niigata on Thursday morning. Johnston has previewed the game and spoken about how he has been looking forward to it. He said (Glasgow Times): “I’ve been talking a lot about this friendly match with Japanese boys since this match was announced. I’m very sorry that Daizen can’t come to Japan this time, but the other boys are in great spirits.”
As the treble-winning defender alluded to, Daizen Maeda will not play in this one. That may give Johnston less of a headache as the 25-year-old is non-stop down the left and when up against an opposition right-back.
Hatate and Kyogo will be up for it, however, and Johnston will be wary of the duo. He said: “They are my teammates and rival players, so I talked to them and we’ll look back together about the match after tomorrow’s friendly. We are usually team-mates, but I want to be wary of them so that we never let them to score a goal.”
The game isn’t a competitive match and there are no points up for grabs but every Hoops player has an elite mentality and will be eager to win. Johnston, Hatate, and Kyogo are no different and Thursday’s game is one Celtic supporters will keep a watchful eye on.
