Pundit raves about ‘exciting’ Celtic player Rodgers just isn’t picking

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Celtic winger Mikey Johnston has been praised after a dazzling performance for the Republic of Ireland against Gibraltar.

Ray Houghton has moved to rave about Celtic winger Mikey Johnston after a big Republic of Ireland victory.

The international break is still rumbling on with a number of Celtic players in action around the world.

We saw Gustav Lagerbielke score for Sweden in a win over Moldova last week whilst Luis Palma has been featuring for Honduras.

Brendan Rodgers will just be hoping that his players return to Glasgow unscathed, but he will be especially delighted with winger Mikey Johnston.

Celtic winger Mikey Johnston earns praise after Ireland win

Johnston started for the Republic of Ireland as they headed away to take on Gibraltar on Monday night.

The 24-year-old scored Ireland’s second goal in a 2-0 victory, scoring from close range having been picked out by Matt Doherty.

Stephen Kenny’s side recorded a fairly easy 4-0 victory, dominating Gibraltar as expected.

Johnston was vital to the victory, leading to huge praise from Republic of Ireland legend Ray Houghton.

Houghton, as quoted by BBC Sport, suggested that Johnston was ‘absolutely terrific’ against Gibraltar.

The standard of opposition isn’t great but Houghton praised Johnston as an ‘exciting player’ who is prepared to run at defenders.

“Mikey Johnston still looks fresh, he’ll be happy enough with his performance this evening, he’s been absolutely terrific,” said Houghton. “He gets you on the edge of your seat, he’s an exciting player, he can handle the ball in tight areas and he’s not afraid to take a player on,” he added.

Johnston still waiting for a chance under Brendan Rodgers

Johnston is shining for his country but first-team minutes at Celtic have been hard to come by.

The Glasgow-born winger hasn’t played a single minute of league action this season and hasn’t even been on the bench for a Scottish Premiership game.

Johnston was an unused substitute against Feyenoord and Lazio in the Champions League but just isn’t getting a chance to shine.

Celtic have a host of other options out wide and if Johnston doesn’t get chances even after shining for his county, then maybe he will need to leave Parkhead.

Johnston spent last season on loan at Vitoria Guimaraes in Portugal but may need to seriously think about leaving permanently if Rodgers doesn’t give him an opportunity.