Alistair Johnston has revealed he pushed himself through the pain barrier to play his part in Celtic’s epic League Cup final victory over Rangers, but that the experience of watching the rest of the topsy-turvy contest from the bench after he was eventually forced off was even more painful than running around Hampden.
The right back picked up a hip flexor injury in the Champions League tie against Dinamo Zagreb last week and was a major doubt for Sunday’s showdown with Rangers, and he admits if the game hadn’t been of such importance, then he probably would have sat it out.
In the end, he managed to battle his way through 70 minutes before finally admitting defeat to his injury, only to watch his side surrender their 2-1 lead, move ahead once more and then be pegged back again in the dying moments as Rangers forced extra time and penalties.
The Celtic team as a whole though would not accept defeat to their rivals, much to Johnston’s relief, and he will now wait and see what the reaction to playing so long with his knock has been ahead of Sunday’s visit to face Dundee United at Tannadice.
“I guess we'll just see,” Johnston said.
“Realistically, I might not have played this match if it wasn't a cup final. But I made it pretty clear to the medical staff that I want to be available and do everything possible.
“The whole plan was for me to try not to put myself in an awkward position where I could potentially tweak something, but I had a weird slip about 10 minutes in and I knew right then that it was going to be a long game to get through.
“I fought through and when we got to 2-1 I thought, 'I'm really struggling here, let's bring Tony (Ralston) on'. Then all of sudden it got even more chaotic in a way with the scoreline and everything.
“But I'm just happy we managed to lift the trophy. It's going to be one of those ones I'll look back on and have probably forgotten that I came off in the match or was fighting through anything. All that really matters is that you have the trophy in your cabinet.”
Johnston couldn’t even join the on-field post-match party with his usual gusto, celebrations that were as much an expression of Celtic’s relief to have fought through such a test while being below their best as they were of their joy at lifting another trophy.
“I don't think I made it over to the proper celebrations,” he said.
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“It was a crazy match. I knew it was going to be a bit hectic, but those are the kind of games that shave years off your life. I'm just glad we got out with the result and the trophy in the end.
“Watching when you can't affect the game after you come off is really frustrating but at the same time, I thought Tony did a great job. It wasn't an easy game to come into with how they were playing and pressing us, and we were a bit all over the shop.
“It was probably a really enjoyable final for the neutral. It was a crazy match to watch but at the end of the day you just have to come out of these matches with a win, and we did, so we're really happy.”
As much as Johnston and the 25,000-odd Celtic fans who were in attendance had their nerves shredded long before the end, there was also a belief within Johnston that the men on the pitch would get the job done, as they have so many times before.
“We've got plenty of guys in this team who have played in big matches and cup finals,” he said.
“We've got that core then you bring on a guy like James Forrest who is now the joint most decorated Celtic player of all time.
“When you've got that coming off the bench, there's definitely some experience there and experience of winning trophies.
“I think there is that underlying confidence we have that no matter how tough it gets, we've won these matches before in the past, and we can rely on that killer instinct to get us through some tough moments.
“The penalties were all unbelievable and Kasper (Schmeichel) made a great save. Sometimes you've got to win it like that.”
Despite their 11-point cushion to Rangers in the Premiership, the fight that Philippe Clement’s men put up at the weekend has just given the Celtic players a little reminder that they cannot afford to get too comfortable, with Johnston stressing they have learned from their own little wobble last season.
“They're a good team,” he said.
“The league is still early. We're in December and there's a long way to go. I think last year was a perfect example of that. We had a pretty solid lead then we threw it away and managed to claw it back at the very end.
“There's going to be twists and turns. We can only really focus on ourselves. At the end of the day, if you just consistently pick up three points, you're going to leave yourself in a pretty good position going into matches against [Rangers].
“Normally they end up being title deciders, but if you can give yourself as big a buffer as possible going into those matches it helps take some pressure off and leaves yourself in a good position no matter what the result is in those matches.
“But, again, we've shown a great ability to win these kinds of matches and I think that's something that's deep rooted in this team and comes from the leaders we have in James and Cal and all those kinds of guys.
“We're expecting [Rangers] to kick on as well, and over the past couple of weeks they have done, but we know if we play our best football it's really all about us at the end of the day.”
