Mikey Johnston made his first league start for Celtic in two years as they beat Hibs 4-1 in the Scottish Premiership on Wednesday night.
The Ireland international, who spent last season on loan at Portuguese side Vitória de Guimarães, played 63 minutes before being replaced by Marco Tilio with Celtic leading 4-0. In all, it was Johnston’s fifth appearance of the season.
“Mikey needs to do more, that is the reality,” Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers told the BBC about the winger’s performance.
“He has a lot of talent; he comes into the game, but if you’re going to start the game, we need more impact from him; hopefully, we’ll see that over time.”
“He’s not young. He’s 24. At some point, you have to grab the bull by the horns and be aggressive. Coming off the bench is easier because there’s no pressure. You can come in and show your qualities.”
“If any player wants to be a starter here you’ve got to have that personality to come in and play. But he’s been really good in training and earned the start. Hopefully, if he gets more starts he can show more of his qualities.”
Oh Hyeon-gyu, a South Korean international who was named to the starting lineup alongside Johnston and Tomoki Iwata, scored twice.
“He works extremely hard at his game,” Rodgers added.
“So he’s ready when he comes in; I was very pleased for him; he’s a good reference point for the team; he shows that he can score in the box but also make runs in behind; and he’s taken his goals really, really well.”
“Tomo was a rock in midfield.” We just wanted him to walk in there and feel like he was playing. I would have played him earlier, but he was injured. “I thought he was reliable.”
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