Winger sets a deadline to save his Celtic career.

Mikey Johnston has set a January deadline for himself to revive his Celtic career.

The winger is expected to start for Ireland against Holland on Saturday night, but he has only played 25 minutes of club football this season, coming off the bench in a 0-0 draw against Hibs.

Under Brendan Rodgers, Johnston made his first team debut in May 2017 but has never established himself in the side, with injuries playing a significant role in his up-and-down career.

At the age of 24, and with an international career on the horizon, the winger’s next few months look critical, with December potentially being make or break for his Celtic career.

In an interview with The Sun, Johnstone stated:

“No player is going to be happy when they’re not playing. Ultimately, it’s up to me and I need to try and force my way into that team.

“I have until January to do that and I will try and give it everything to do that, but we just have to see what happens.

“Have I spoken to the manager about it? Not much in the last sort of month, we’ve had chats here and there.

“It’s tough decisions for the manager to make and ultimately it’s up to me. It can be done. Liam Scales thought he was out the door and now he’s back playing and he’s a regular in the team.

“I’m so happy for him and it shows it can definitely be done. I’m not going to say anything bad about Celtic and I would love for it to happen at Celtic. I would love to play but I’m 24 now and I want to play every game.

“I want to be involved in Ireland camps, I want to be playing for Ireland. Realistically, if I’m not playing I won’t be getting picked, unless I go out and do really well. It makes it a lot harder.

“I’m definitely going to have to force my way into the Celtic team or see what happens. I’m not sure what’s going to happen in January, but I do want to play.”

With Daizen Maeda and Liel Abada currently out injured, the door is open for wingers, but Johnston did not make the bench against Aberdeen on Sunday.

Luis Palma and Yang Hyun-Jun were preferred, with James Forrest coming off the bench, but with 11 games remaining before the January break, the Irish internationalist could get another chance.

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