Alastair Johnston could still be involved in Celtic’s Scottish Cup Final against Inverness Caley Thistle at Hampden.
The defender lasted 54 minutes of Sunday’s semi-final victory but was last seen with a moon boot and crutches celebrating in front of the Celtic support.
Scott Burns of the Daily Record was accurate with a report that Cameron Carter-Vickers would require surgery, a story that was confirmed by Ange Postecoglou at Hampden.
Now Burns has outlined the extent of the injury to Johnston in the Daily Record:
Alistair Johnston is out of this weekend’s potential title decider at Hearts but Treble-chasing Celtic hope he will be fit for the Scottish Cup final.
The Canadian international limped off in Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final win over Rangers after he injured his right ankle. Record Sport understands the early consensus is Johnston is likely to be out for three to four weeks, although it depends on how he reacts to treatment.
The worst case scenario is he could miss the main bulk of Celtic’s top six fixtures, starting with Sunday’s trip to Hearts, where they could seal the league title. The fact the Scottish Cup Final against Inverness is on June 3 gives Johnston the chance to be back pushing for that.
After the final Johnston will have international matches to play for Canada.
Tony Ralston is now set to get a run in the team, starting at Tynecastle on Sunday, the venue where he scored the first SPFL goal of the Ange Postecoglou era in July 2021.
With Carter-Vickers also missing there will be a very different look to the Celtic defence on Sunday as they make their third visit to Tynecastle having won 4-3 in the SPFL and 3-0 in the Scottish Cup.