Celtic defender Alistair Johnston has offered supporters fresh encouragement regarding his recovery from injury…
The Canadian international remains out of action as he continues rehab, but he appears to be making steady progress towards a return to the pitch. On Monday, Johnston shared a brief video on social media showing himself training on the grass at Lennoxtown as he increases the intensity of his comeback programme.
The right-back has been absent since October after sustaining a hamstring injury that ultimately required surgery.
Despite the lengthy lay-off, there is growing optimism about his return. Martin O’Neill recently suggested Johnston could still feature later in the season and potentially contribute to the club’s push in the title race after the league split.
The footage posted online shows Johnston jogging and completing light running drills on the Lennoxtown training pitches as part of his recovery work.
Although not yet fit to play, the defender was present at Ibrox on Sunday to support the team during Celtic’s dramatic Scottish Cup victory over theRangers, which was decided by a penalty shoot-out.
Johnston watched the match in the Broomloan section alongside teammates Arne Engels, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Callum Osmand, Anthony Ralston and Stephen Welsh.
Following the final whistle, he joined travelling supporters in celebrating the win, with videos circulating online showing Johnston helping lead chants inside Ibrox.
When asked last week to deliver an update on Johnston’s injury, O’Neill said: “Back then, we were thinking around the end of March, so it’s this particular month. Now, sometimes the updates vary a little bit.
“Both he and little Callum Osmand, they’ve had a couple of little setbacks, you know, just along in terms of their recuperation.
“So nothing major, nothing, but just little setbacks that take you back another 10 days or something like that. So the answer is that I’d be hoping that if we are still in contention, that he [Johnston] would be there for maybe the split or something like that.”
Conor Spence
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I’m a Martin O’Neill fan, really.