Celtic winger Mikey Johnston admits he jumped at the chance to set the story straight and thrive with Vitoria Guimares on loan.
The 23–year-old admits he and the Parkhead boss enjoyed a straight–up discussion over his future before plumping for a move to Portugal to reignite his career. And it's paid off in a major way for a player who made a thrilling debut for the Republic of Ireland in their 3-2 victory over Latvia and he was involved in the winner. And now he is primed for a key role under a new-look Ireland side guided by Stephen Kenny.
But Johnston has now moved to set the record straight over what he perceives as inaccurate opinions about him and his role with the Premiership champions amid an inconsistent injury record before his leap of faith at the start of the season. He said: "Last season I still played 20 games for Celtic, so it’s not like I was pushed out the door. I played in a cup final for the manager and he gave me an extra year when I left the club, so that gave me the faith to say he wants me to come back and produce.
"I needed consistency and more minutes. We had an honest conversation and he said it was best that I went elsewhere to get it. I was fine with that. I needed a freshen up. Opinions on me weren’t accurate and I wanted to change that. I had to get away from the UK, to be honest. Portugal has been really good. I had quite a bad time with injuries in the last couple of years.
"For a full year, touch wood, I have been fine and managed to get back to full fitness. Vitoria has been a great platform for me. They are in a big league and it’s really competitive. I have had a lot of starts, a lot of games, a lot of consistency, which is what I needed. Will I be back at Celtic long-term? We will see. I don’t want to sit on the bench. I just want to feel important.”
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