Martin O'Neill has suggested he is not ready to make a permanent change between the sticks, and rightly so.
O'Neill made changes aplenty to his team on Wednesday night in a bid to manage a busy schedule and keep some of his key starters fresh for Sunday night's Old Firm clash with Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup.
The gamble paid off, with the Hoops winning 1-0 thanks to Mika Baur's second-half tap-in, and while rest was the key reason behind the changes, it seems O'Neill also wanted to get a good look at some new or less favoured players in a game he was confident of winning.
One of them was new loan goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, who pulled off a big first-half safe to keep the home side out.
"He makes a great save, which is a big, big moment in the game for us. Because it could have been Saturday night all over again," O'Neill said after the game.
"The save was fantastic — a really, really brilliant reaction save. He’s been a fine goalkeeper. It’s just a matter of getting up to speed with things. I think he took a bit of cramp then. A goalkeeper taking cramp, whatever next..."
Johnstone hasn't played a lot of football of late, so while there isn't too much fitness required, he is clearly out of match rhythm, potentially leading to the cramp he suffered late in the game.
As for his performance, that first half save was top-class, with the shot coming so close to him. He didn't have much to do other than that, but it was noticeable that his distribution did not match what Viljami Sinisalo has produced.
At times, the veteran keeper wanted to do too much and too quickly, rushing long throws or long kicks to try to pick out teammates on the break, and the balls were too often intercepted.
That could be rustiness, or it may be a keeper doing too much in trying to win the starting role. but either way, Sinisalo is the clear starter for now, and one good save should not change that.
Asked if he spoke to Sinisalo about the decision to start Johnstone, O'Neill added: "Yes, he’s done very, very well indeed. But you need to find out. While I do not want to use games like this, I have to find out about a number of players.
"For instance, Oliver Sorensen started the game tonight. Our main man (Duran) only came on in the last 10 or 15 minutes. So, it does, it gives you food for thought."
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