adminCeltic manager Martin O’Neill has a decision to make over who starts in goal against Rangers on Sunday after Sam Johnstone produced an impressive debut performance in the 1-0 victory over St Johnstone.
The Wolves loanee was chosen ahead of regular goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo for the Premiership fixture in Perth and produced an excellent save from Joel Cotterill in the first half while the game remained goalless.
The England international remained composed for the rest of the match and earned praise from O’Neill, who must now determine who will take the gloves in the intense atmosphere of Ibrox for the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final.
“Yes, he’s done very, very well indeed,” said O’Neill on Johnstone. “The save was fantastic. 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 later. A goalkeeper taking cramp, whatever next. But anyway, I think Peter Shilton took cramp way back in 1979 as well too, so I shouldn’t complain.”
O’Neill disclosed that he had spoken with Sinisalo before the Saints clash about the decision to start Johnstone. “Yes, I spoke to him, and he’s taken it,” said the Northern Irishman. “We’ll see what happens on Sunday. But we’ve got loads and loads of games, and it is really nice to know that I have actually two really decent goalkeepers.”
Johnstone was one of five alterations to the Celtic side in Perth, with centre-back Cameron Carter-Vickers omitted entirely after starting every game so far this campaign. O’Neill is hopeful the American will be available for the Old Firm encounter.
“I’m hoping that he would be available, yes, for us,” said O’Neill. “He hasn’t hardly missed a minute of pre-season, and also the games. He’s been out for a year, and he was just feeling really sore on Saturday evening.
“I’ve got much time for big Dane Murray. I’ve got a lot of time for him. I think he’s got a proper career. His injuries have curtailed him for a while, but he’s just coming through. I think he’s got a really decent future, and things to pick up on. But yes, in terms of Carter-Vickers, he should be okay for Sunday.”
In-form striker Camilo Duran was introduced from the bench, with O’Neill opting to preserve the Colombian ahead of the Rangers fixture. “He’s just been class,” said O’Neill. “He looked tired in the game against St Mirren. But I’m not surprised for the amount of things that he does for us, both with the ball, which is terrific, and also the work that he does off it.
“He’s second only to Daizen Maeda in terms of closing players down. So I wanted to try and see if we could do without him, and the answer is probably not!”
Celtic deserved their win over St Johnstone but needed time to find their rhythm, with Mika Baur’s 52nd-minute strike proving to be the decisive moment.
Reflecting on the overall display, O’Neill added: “I don’t know, I really don’t know. I thought we started off with a lot of possession. I thought we started to create a few things. When we were doing that, it looked as if there was nobody in the penalty box for us.
“Then Sam makes a great save, which is a big, big moment in the game for us. Because it could have been Saturday night [against St Mirren] all over again. We got a bit more tempo into the game in the second half, got the goal and saw it through.
We could have scored a number of goals, but we made that look very, very difficult indeed.
admin
