Taylor and Johnston’s importance to Celtic

Celtic’s defence had to cope with another injury on Saturday: Liam Scales missed out with Maik Nawrocki stepping in, but as a unit, they are solid with Greg Taylor, Alistair Johnston and Cameron Carter-Vickers in place.

It was fitting that Johnston got an assist for Reo Hatate and Kyogo’s goals, the second a particularly satisfying cross.  He is back on the form we saw when he first arrived in January last year.  Decision making, energy levels and end product have all ticked up since the winter break.

Both fullbacks were missing in February, then returned to build up match fitness in a team in a mini crisis.  It was a lesson on how fragile form can be when players are even 10% short of sharpness.

The injury to Daizen Maeda poses a different challenge.  Luis Palma returned to action after six weeks out and, for my money, looked like he has work to do and perhaps a few pounds to shift.  Yang didn’t look comfortable on the left on Saturday, so until Daizen recovers or Luis gets miles under his belt, I expect Greg Taylor has a lot of running to do, especially on the big open spaces of Hampden.

The two fullbacks are among Celtic’s most important players.