'You’re expected to win trophies,' Alistair Johnston on minimum requirements at Celtic

Alistair Johnston has won seven medals in his two and a half years at Celtic and ahead of the new season, the recently married Canadian international, is hungry to add to that tally in the 2025/26 campaign.

As well as tying the knot and playing in an international tournament in the States, Johnston joked that he spent the summer watching back that goal by James Forrest in the last seconds of the Trophy Day draw with St Mirren. Johnston provided the assist that allowed Jamesy to make history by maintaining his goal scoring sequence over  14 seasons and the Celtic right back still can’t believe the CELTIC ROAR that day, saying it’s something he’d never heard previously and noting the reason – James Forrest means so much to this football club.

Looking ahead to a re-match with St Mirren on Sunday at Celtic Park  – this time on Flag Day – Johnston knows that a draw will certainly not be celebrated, while noting that Celtic’s brilliant start to last season really did help later in the campaign when the schedule was packed full of games. And he vows to help get Jamesy on the scoresheet much earlier in this campaign, although seemed less certain about getting a goal himself.

“Everything matters now.” Alistair Johnston said to gerry McCulloch at Celtic TV.. “The three points count now as much as they do at the end of the season. When we look back at last season, we had a good a start and that made a difference come the end of the season.

“If you do your work early, you can take a lot of pressure off, especially when the season gets really busy in the winter,” Johnston said.

“We know how important it is to come out of the blocks strong, and this year we have Champions League qualifiers as well, so it’s a big month for us from the get-go. That’s a challenge that we’re looking forward to. We have the group to do it, so now it’s about going out there and putting in the performances.”

Here’s that snippet of the full interview, which is available via Celtic TV.

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Thank you to everyone who has already pre-ordered and don’t worry, your copy will be signed by the legendary Celtic and Scotland star who captained Celtic for the early years of the 1980s.

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