Alistair Johnston is an injury doubt for Celtic with three and a half weeks to go until the start of the SPFL season.
The defender has yet to take part in pre-season training with right-backs Tony Ralston, Josh Dede and Ben McPherson all involved in the Algarve Training Camp,
Johnston joined Celtic in December, made his debut at Ibrox on January 2 and effortlessly slipped into Josip Juranovic’s place in the team.
Late on Wednesday night David Friel of The Sun reported:
ALISTAIR JOHNSTON looks set to miss the start of Celtic’s season. The injured Canada right-back has yet to begin training with Brendan Rodgers’ squad.
Johnston could miss key games when the Hoops begin their title defence. The 24-year-old suffered an ankle injury in the Scottish Cup semi- final against Rangers in April but recovered for the final victory against Inverness.
Johnston then went on international duty and started games against Panama and the USA, but he came off after an hour against the States and coach John Herdman later admitted he was still “carrying an injury”.
Four weeks on, Johnston has not returned to training. Any lay-off would be a blow to new boss Rodgers.
After being injured at Hampden in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup on April 30 there were doubts over whether Johnston would play again.
The Canadian returned to play in the final SPFL match of the season at home to Aberdeen on May 27 followed by the Scottish Cup Final a week later.
Tonight Celtic drew 0-0 with Portimonense at their Algarve training camp, the two sides will meet again on Saturday morning.
Think we won one nil
What’s he doing playing for Canada..
Ridiculous…