Celtic defender has suffered a fresh injury blow while training with the Canadian national team, delaying his long-awaited return to first team action.
The 27-year-old has been sidelined since October with a hamstring problem that required surgery after he aggravated an initial injury sustained against Kairat Almaty in August. He had recently returned to the training pitch and received permission to join his national team during the international break.
However, Martin O’Neill confirmed that Johnston experienced a setback on his final day of training with Canada. “Alistair has had a wee bit of a setback. He went away with the Canadian national side, was doing some running and had a bit of a setback on his final day of training, which was really disconcerting for us,” the manager said.
The delay is particularly frustrating given Celtic’s defensive injury crisis and the timing of the title run in. O’Neill had hoped to have Johnston available within a couple of weeks, potentially for bounce games, but that timeline has now been abandoned. “That will just have to be parked and put to the side for the moment. It’s a shame.”
With the Scottish Premiership season concluding on May 17, Johnston is rapidly running out of time to feature again this campaign. The setback leaves Celtic without a key defensive option as they face a crucial fixture against Dundee on Sunday, potentially eight points adrift of leaders Hearts by kickoff if results go against them.
The champions have taken just seven points from their last fifteen available and cannot afford further slip ups in a three way title race that also involves Rangers. Should Hearts prevail, it would mark the first time since 1985 that neither Celtic nor Rangers have won the championship.