Alistair Johnston believes his physicality has been the secret to his Celtic success so far. But if he's the designated Parkhead hardman, then Callum McGregor tried to steal his "job" against Rangers last weekend.
The 24-year-old has made the right-back position his own since arriving from CF Montreal in January in a deal worth around £3.5million. He slotted straight into the team for his debut in a 2-2 Old Firm draw on January 2 and has already shown a bullish side that the Hoops supporters love to watch. Josip Juranovic was predominately Celtic's main man at full-back prior to the World Cup and his exit to Union Berlin raised the question if Johnston could fill his boots. The defender has not been shy in challenges, interceptions and being there for the big moments however he admits he was stunned to see captain Callum McGregor replicate that same desire during their last clash with Rangers. The Scotland international was involved in an incident with Gers star Nicolas Raskin and Johnston wanted to wade in and join his skipper.
Talking about his physical presence on the pitch, Johnston said: "It's the foundation of my game to a degree. You have to have technical ability to be playing at this level. But if you take away my desire and my competitiveness I'm not nearly the same player as some of the guys. I know what I need to bring if I want to play for Celtic. It's part of me, it comes back to my family, my childhood - growing up in a family of three boys where I was the middle child and everything was a competition, a battle.
"In sports too, playing hockey. It's a huge thing for us growing up in. Canada. We love to hit people and get in to it but its also about camaraderie. If you hit one of my players, one of the most skilful guys, it's my job to go and back them up.
"You could see it with the national team, we've brought on that identity. I try to bring that to Celtic. You can see it with Cal (McGregor). I think in the last match I got knocked over and I turned around and he was already in there pushing someone for me and I was like 'Mate, that's my job! Get out there'"
Johnston also admitted that he's adapting to 'Angeball' and how to play as an inverted full-back but says the help of teammates Greg Taylor and Anthony Ralston, who have worked with Postecoglou for almost two years, has been a huge help as he promised to take his game to 'another level'.
He confessed: "I think I've grown into the role. It's taken me a bit of time to really understand exactly what the coaching staff want out of me, especially in this system as a full-back, it's a little bit different. You are inverting and you are doing some different things from what a typical full-back does. I'm still learning that and I've been lucky enough to have guys like Tony Ralston and Greg Taylor who have really showed me the ropes in what's to be expected of that position, which has been really nice and beneficial for me.
"At the same time, I know what I can bring and I know there's still another level for me to bring so I'm really excited to continue to grow as a player in this team. Once I get a full pre-season under my belt leading into next year, I hope I can bring it up another level altogether so it's kind of exciting for me because I'm still young and I've still got a lot to learn and a lot to grow. I'm a player that wants to learn, I want to see what level I can reach.
"That's exciting for myself and overall it's been a great start. I can't complain even if some of my performances haven't been at the level that I know I can be at and want to be at, I can't look back on it with a sad face at all. I've been really happy and I think that the whole Celtic supporters have been really welcoming to me which has made that transition much easier."
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