ALISTAIR JOHNSTON insists “anything is possible” as Celtic prepare for a gruelling run-in to rollercoaster campaign.
The Hoops still have eyes on retaining their league title and Scottish Cup in the countdown to the season’s finale on the iconic date of May 25, scheduled for the national competition soccer showpiece at Hampden.
Brendan Rodgers’ side have wobbled alarmingly since the Irishman’s June return as successor to Ange Postecoglou.
The holders went out of the League Cup in the third game of the crusade, beaten 1-0 by Kilmarnock at Rugby Park which was also the venue for their first league loss in December and they have since been beaten by Hearts twice, shedding points in careless fashion.
THE END GAME…Alistair Johnston applauds the Celtic fans after the controversial loss at Tynecastle.
There have also been draws with Derek McInnes’ Ayrshire outfit, St Johnstone and Motherwell in the east end of Glasgow and stalemates on their travels against Hibs and Aberdeen.
There are still reverberations in the fall-out of the controversial weekend loss at Tynecastle where VAR, with John Beaton at the controls, dominated the headlines with some extraordinary interventions that saw Yang Hyun-jun sent off and the hosts gifted a nonsensical penalty-kick.
The Hoops, looking for their twelfth crown in 13 years, are two points off the pace at the Premiership pinnacle, but Canadian World Cup right-back Johnston is not reaching for the panic button.
The 25-year-old defender said: “There is still a really good group of guys who come in here and work hard every day and who fight for each other.
“I am really excited for these next few months, it is a chance to play our football. If we do that, anything is possible.”
The pressure continues to mount with nine league games to go and Johnston, who joined the Hoops in a £3.5million deal from MLS club CF Montreal in January last year, admitted: “It is not always easy, especially for the new guys.
“They maybe haven’t felt this kind of pressure before and scrutiny from living in a city that is this football mad.
CRUNCH…Alistair Johnston is on the receiving end of a late challenge from Hearts’ Macaulay Tait.
“The older guys are here for them. We just kind of block out the noise.
“All that really matters is what is in that [dressing]room and at the end of the day what is in that room is what is going to take us to the title or not.
“It is down to us, it is in our control. There is nothing more to add.”
Reacting to criticism about the squad struggling to cope, Johnston, speaking to the Daily Record, added: “We have got great leaders. We have got guys such as Callum McGregor, Joe Hart and James Forrest who have played in difficult run-ins and lifted all kinds of trophies.
“There are quite a few guys in that locker room who won it last year and who understand what it takes to win. So, I think there is that confidence and that self-belief there for sure.
“With it being Joe’s last season we want to send him off right. So, there are things like that. The confidence is definitely there, the togetherness is there, I haven’t really noticed any difference from last year.
“There is still a really good group of guys who come in here and work hard every day and who fight for each other.
“I am really excited for these next few months, it is a chance to play our football. If we do that, anything is possible.”
