Poll: Celtic Fans Just About Split On Ralston & Johnston

Thanks to nearly 1500 people who took part in our poll from Twitter earlier today. We asked Celtic fans how they feel about keeping Ralston & Johnston in the team as Celtic take on Aberdeen and Rangers* away from home. The results of the poll are certainly not definitive, with a slight lean towards both youngsters getting a start.

For the past few months, most of the positives from Celtic have all been about Ryan Christie and his rise into a first-team regular. More recently Anthony Ralston and Mikey Johnston have lit up an injury struck Celtic squad.

Johnston seemed to be on the Celtic bosses mind since pre-season but probably not as a lone striker. Celtic fans might have wondered if they would see Anthony Ralston play first-team football again. One minute he’s squaring up to Neymar and looking like a new right-sided version of Kieran Tierney. Then he gets injured and disappears.

Can Brendan Rodgers play the youngsters going into two huge domestic games? Does he trust them away to Aberdeen or in a Glasgow derby at Ibrox? Ryan Christie seems to have earned that kind of respect and trust from the manager in the last couple of months. Most Celtic fans are buzzing with pride that Academy players are able to burst onto the scene and make such an impact. Once Tierney is back in the side the Celtic management could be selecting a team at Ibrox with as many as five academy players.

Not so long ago in Brendan Rodgers first Glasgow derby, I remember Leigh Griffiths getting pulled from the team hours before kick off. It was announced that some kid called Dembele who just signed from Fulham was to step into Griffiths place in one of the biggest games of the season. I remember my heart sinking. Then the young French striker got a hat-trick and quickly became a 20 million pound sought-after striker.

Would you keep Johnston and Ralston in the team over the next two games at Pittodrie and Ibrox?

— CeltsAreHere (@CeltsAreHere) December 23, 2018

If Johnston and Ralston can make the same kind of impact on the first team as Tierney, Forrest and McGregor the future certainly is bright. Feel free to vote on the poll or add a comment.