Celtic right-back Alistair Johnston has faced vast, and at times rightful, criticism throughout the season to date.
The Canada international failed to carry his form from his first six months at the club into the new campaign. Although much of the team hasn’t quite hit the heights of last season in the current one, Johnston’s drop-off in performance level has been particularly concerning.
He provided a seamless transition at right-back when Josip Juranovic departed the club, but fell off when Brendan Rodgers made his return to Glasgow.
His displays dipped, and he didn’t offer much defensively or in attack. There can be many reasons given as to why this was the case, though.
Indeed throughout 2023/24, the Celts have experienced a wealth of injury issues. There hasn’t been a settled back-four all season, nor a set starting eleven for that matter.
Relationships on the park are crucial and on the right, Johnston hasn’t been able to build one with the winger playing in front of him due to a lack of consistency in the lineup.
Over the past game and a half, however, he has combined brilliantly with Yang Hyun-jun. The 21-year-old came on at Fir Park last Sunday and made a noticeable impact on the game.
He then started against Dundee midweek and was named man of the match. Yang and Johnston have developed quite the partnership in such a short space of time, the South Korean internationalist’s ability to go on the inside or out allowing the full-back to make both overlapping and underlapping runs.
Johnston has appeared to be back to his best over the past few matches, remaining stout defensively and grabbing two assists. It was his cross from which Adam Idah converted a late go-ahead goal at Motherwell with the 25-year-old also sliding through Daizen Maeda for his stunning finish on Wednesday.
The treble-winner has been condemned at certain points in the current campaign but in recent matches, he, and much of his teammates, have been back at their swashbuckling best.
