Celtic have been dealt another injury blow as Neil Lennon confirmed that the winger is out for the ‘long term’ after suffering ligament damage.
It is no secret that Celtic have struggled with injuries this season. That is no surprise though considering the sheer number of games that they have to play. It is hard to remember a time when the team did not play twice a week except during the breaks. Thus, slight niggling injuries are normal.
It starts to become a worry though when the same guy gets injured constantly. Then it becomes hard for the manager to put any faith in that player because of his reputation of being injury-prone. And Mikey Johnston is quickly starting to earn that reputation.
It has been a struggle for the youngster to remain fit for any considerable length of time with constant injuries derailing a season in which he was expected to break out. And now he might be out for the ‘long-term’ as confirmed by Neil Lennon.
As reported by BBC, following Celtic’s 3-0 win away at St Johnstone, Lennon revealed:
"“It will be long term. It was a bad twist.“It looks like he has twisted the knee and there is a bit of swelling there and ligament damage.”"
The injury look place late in the game when Johnston appeared in some discomfort after a challenge. When asked about being taken off though, he decided to stay on only to be forced off a little while later after Celtic had used all their substitutes, leaving them with 10 men on the pitch. As a result, he drew the ire of Lennon. Thankfully the game had been won a long time ago or the Hoops could have been in trouble.
There is no question about Johnston’s talent. But all these continuous injuries force you to question whether he is strong enough to survive the rigours of Scottish football. Maybe he should use this time out to put some muscle on and come back stronger.