Has Johnstone earned a derby start at Ibrox?
[BBC] "Amazing. What a feeling." Sam Johnstone's smile beamed like the McDiarmid Park floodlights after the goalkeeper's accomplished Celtic debut. Making his first league appearance in 21 months, the Wolves loanee impressed as Celtic preserved their 100% start with a hard-fought 1-0 win at St Johnstone. Johnstone was something of a surprise inclusion in place of Viljami Sinisalo - but has he played his way into the team for Sunday's League Cup quarter-final with Rangers at Ibrox? The 33-year-old clearly has pedigree, as his four England caps attest. The new signing completed his "rollercoaster week" by making three saves - all from shots inside the box - in Perth. The pick of them was a tremendous instinctive tip-over from Joel Cotterill's first-time strike to prevent Celtic falling behind. The keeper also won his one aerial duel, had one punched clearance, and was successful with 31 of 38 passes, five of which were launched into the final third. A bout of cramp crept in towards the end of his solid shift. "It's been a rollercoaster week, coming in and getting to know the lads and staff, training and watching a couple of games," Johnstone said. "So to finally get on the pitch and get a win, clean sheet, play in front of the fans, it was an unbelievable feeling. I'm really happy." Manager Martin O'Neill admitted Johnstone's debut showing has given him food for thought before Sunday's derby trip to Ibrox. "The save was fantastic, a really, really brilliant reaction save," said O'Neill. "He's a fine goalkeeper and it's just a matter of him getting up to speed with things. Sinisalo's done very, very well indeed, and while I [ideally] do not want to use games like this, I have to find out about a number of players. "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." Former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner says O'Neill now has a big decision to make. "Johnstone looked commanding and had that terrific reflex save. He did good, he'll be under more pressure in other games," Bonner told BBC Sportsound. "It will be interesting to see what the manager does now - does he keep him in or go with Sinisalo? Celtic have two good goalkeepers at the moment." Celtic fans, who should start at Ibrox - Johnstone or Sinisalo? Let us know your thoughts here. [BBC]
News Source : Yahoo Sports and Read the full article →






