Alistair Johnston

A tight hamstring apparently. Send him up the road please

 

Alistair Johnston suffered a tight hamstring forcing his substitution 23 minutes into Canada’s 2-1 win over the USA.


The defender has been in outstanding form for Celtic since the start of the season, highlighted by his performance in last week’s Glasgow Derby topped off by the assist for Daizen Maeda’s opening goal.

International breaks are always worrying times for club managers and supporters, late on Saturday there was concerning news about Johnston emerging from the friendly in Kansas.

There are two takes on going off injured midway through the first half in a friendly- it was precautionary and not worth playing through, or something serious that couldn’t be risked any further

Proving a comprehensive after-match review of the game Canadian publisher CBC reported:

A tight hamstring forced Canadian fullback Alistair Johnston off in the 23rd minute, replaced by Richie Laryea.


Celtic will have been informed of the injury straight away, during today they should be updated on it with fans looking closely for an update on the players Instagram account.

Tuesday’s match against Mexico seems certain to be missed with Johnston flying back to Scotland to have his injury assessed with a timescale set on any absence.

Celtic are only 10 days away from their Champions League opener at home to Slovan Bratislava, with most hamstring injuries it would appear doubtful that Johnston could be involved.


The hoops then take on Falkirk on September 22 followed by a free midweek then the trip to St Johnston on September 28.

 

Not ideal.. wonder if we'll give Valle some minutes at RB v Hearts if AJ is a doubt for the CL..

Ralston should start though..

 

I detest International breaks.

It said 'felt some hamstring tightness' - hopefully it was more precautionary than serious. Better to miss a couple of games than months on the sideline. In Ralston we do have an RB fit and ready to go, but even still, AJ has been in pretty good form so far this season and the sooner he is available the better.

 

*. He's bringing so much to the team right now aswel.

On another note. 10 days? * aye!!

 

Rest him for the Champions League. Give Ralston a run out against Hearts.

 

Aye Bratislava and Diets at home we should be fine without him, and see how he is from there. No sense risking him being out longer.

 

I'd still play him against Bratislava if he's OK tbh.

 

For what Alistair Johnston means to Celtic, seeing the defender leave the pitch in the 25th minute was the last thing Hoops fans wanted to witness on Saturday, as the 25-year-old spent the majority of his afternoon in Kansas City watching from the sidelines as Canada beat the United States 2-1 to win on U.S. soil for the first time in 67 years.
“He said he felt a little bit of tightness in his hamstring,” head coach Jesse Marsch said in his post-match press conference. “He just felt it was smarter to step out.”
It’s not the first time the CanMNT defender called his own number since Marsch has been in charge.
“He did that, if you go back to the Holland game, he felt a bit of tightness. So, he knows his body. And from that game he was able to recover and play against France. So let’s hope that it will be a similar situation.”

I’m hopeful that Alistair will be okay,” said Marsch. “It’s really nice to see that we have depth. We brought Richie Laryea in and we brought a lot of guys in off the bench and I thought when we brought guys off the bench

* that. The next match is another friendly just send him home

 

Celtic should demand he is sent back for assessment.

 

Doesn’t sound too bad thankfully. Get him home

Edit:

Would be pretty worrying if it was a bad one. No disrespect to Ralston but it’s probably the biggest drop off in quality in the side at RB with an injury. RB and RCB.

 

I don't REALLY mind international matches, it's all the unnecessary international friendlies that annoy me...

Disruption for the sake of it, in the modern era when players are scattered all over the world, is tedious and risky, and nobody actually really cares about the matches/results too much anyway...

 

Sounds like he's alright, but it would be madness to start him in their next match.

 

Engels can play RB no?

 

He can but Taylor is gubbed just now too

 

Would that not be Valle at LB?

 

Is Taylor injured? First I've heard of it.

 

Him and Forrest got sent home from the Scotland squad

 

Yeah sorry I was thinking of Valle for some season when it said Engles. Doh!