The Hoops defender is desperately craving another league winners’ medal in the Parkhead title shoot-out
Celtic defender Alistair Johnston(Image: Robert Perry/PA Wire)
Unless you’re of a green persuasion, it feels like the whole football world is willing Hearts to complete their storybook rise to the title.
The Jambos stand just 90 minutes from immortality – one result away from capping a fairytale campaign by being crowned champions of Scotland. But Alistair Johnston insists Celtic are ready to rip up the script.
After sitting top of the Premiership since September, all Derek McInnes’ men must do now is avoid defeat at Parkhead to bring the trophy back to Gorgie for the first time in 66 years. That, of course, is far easier said than done.
Awaiting them is a cauldron of noise, with 60,000 fans baying for blood from the first whistle as Martin O’Neill’s resurgent side chase a remarkable title comeback of their own.
Johnston knows that, beyond the east end of Glasgow and Easter Road, most neutrals will be draped in maroon scarves hoping to see a changing of the guard after 41 years of Old Firm dominance.
But the Canadian defender is determined to help write another famous chapter in Celtic’s history – and collect a fourth league winners’ medal in the process.
He said: “In a way, it’s nice to a degree, you want to be the team that is the historical winner. You want to be a team that’s known for getting things across the line and never being out of it. I get it.
“It’s the same growing up in North America and other sports. You always want to cheer for the underdog. But they’ve got a chance. There’s no doubt about that. They just need to come to Celtic Park and get a result.
“And it would be some feat obviously for them, how many years it’s been since a team outside of Glasgow has done it? But at the same time is that a trophy means just as much to us. We’re desperate for that league title as well.
“We know how much we’ve put in this season, to keep ourselves in it, to give ourselves this opportunity. We’re not too bothered with the rest of the world things. We’re going to enjoy it just as much as we managed to get this one across the line.”
Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland(Image: Jamie Johnston/Focus Images Ltd/Shutterstock)
Johnston is just thankful Celtic are still in with a chance of salvaging the most turbulent campaign.
The right-back has made a barnstorming return after missing almost the entire season through injury.
From the sidelines, he watched in despair as the Hoops lurched from one crisis to another, cycled through four managers and became engulfed in civil war with their own supporters.
Yet despite the chaos, Celts now find themselves one game away from arguably their greatest-ever title triumph.
He said: “I think Martin sums it up best. He just comes into the changing room after every match and he’s just like, ‘look, it hasn’t been pretty necessarily this whole run, but you guys just keep finding ways to win’.
“And at the end of the day, that’s what this sport is about. It’s about winning matches, winning trophies. We put ourselves now in a position where, again, one more win and you get that league title.
“We haven’t been at our best this season. That’s not going to come as a surprise to anyone there, but the fact that you’re coming into 38th game of the season and you have a chance, it’s all in your hands.
“If you told us that a couple of months ago, we would have shaken your hand for that opportunity. It’s a great opportunity for us and we’re just going to need to try and make the most of it this weekend.”
As if Celtic needed any extra motivation, the dressing room are desperate to give legendary boss O’Neill the perfect send-off in the 74-year-old’s final game in the Parkhead dugout.
Johnston said: “You can hear it from the fans, how much he means this football club, the fact that he’s come back a second time now, at his age, he still has that thrill for it and that rush of being out there.
Celtic boss Martin O’Neill(Image: SNS Group)
“He’s been great for the group and has just always provided something that whether you’re struggling or it’s not going great, you can look over and go, all right, this guy’s still out here grinding away, putting in the hard hours because he loves this football club that much and cares that much about it.
“It’s always a good motivational fact when you look over to him and we’d love to do that for him, this whole staff, and also just this fan base that stuck with us through quite a difficult season.
“Now we have an unbelievable chance to end this on a pretty high note here.”
Celtic aren’t only chasing five-in-a-row – they are also on the brink of a record-breaking 56th Scottish league crown. Johnston understands exactly what that would mean in Glasgow, but insists the immediate focus is simply on getting over the line.
He added: ”I think the Scottish boys would be quite aware of it. For us, there are so many trophies in this club’s pretty storied trophy cabinet.
“And if you can add one, no matter what number it is to the cabinet and etch yourself into a small part of this club’s history, you’re doing something special.
“So look, we’re not too bothered about that. It’s probably one that we’ll look back on in 10, 15 years and maybe have a bigger smile if you managed to get across the line and it’s that number. But we’re not too focused on that.”