Celtic's Defensive Crisis Deepens with Alistair Johnston Injury

Celtic have been dealt another defensive blow, with Alistair Johnston ruled out until October, Martin O'Neill has confirmed.

The 27-year-old right-back, who missed most of last season with a hamstring problem, was forced off at half-time in the second game of the new campaign against Kilmarnock. Hopes that it was a minor setback have gone. A scan has shown otherwise.

“There was definitely something there, and I think the prognosis is really that it will be some time in October for him,” O'Neill said, speaking before Celtic’s Champions League play-off second leg away to LASK.

For Johnston, it is another brutal pause just as he tried to build rhythm again. For Celtic, it sharpens a problem O’Neill has been hinting at since the summer: his back line is thin, and everyone knows it.

Defence under the microscope

Celtic have spent the close season adding attacking options and have been linked with several midfield targets, but O’Neill made no attempt to hide where the squad looks lightest.

“If you consider that Kieran [Tierney] is essentially our only left-sided full-back, we'll have a little look,” he admitted.

The manager, though, is refusing to let the transfer noise drown out the immediate task. The Champions League play-off comes first; everything else waits.

“I really will not concentrate on anything at all until after the game, regardless of what the result is or whichever competition we happen to be in.

“We've got some days before the transfer deadline [3 September], and I hope that we will get some people in.”

Names have already started to swirl around Celtic Park. Ermin Mahmic of Slovan Liberec and Torino’s Gvidas Gineitis have both been linked, but O’Neill insisted there was no movement to report on either.

Quality over quantity

The scale of Celtic’s summer churn has been stark.

“I was told some weeks ago that we'd lost 14 players and we'd only replaced them with two at the time,” O'Neill said.

That number, he stressed, can be misleading. Several of those departures were loan players who were never expected to return. The issue now is not simply filling shirts.

“I think the whole thing was balanced out. There were some of those players that we took on loan, that were going to be leaving anyway, weren't going to be coming back. And it was a matter of trying to get a little bit of quality in.

“I think that we could fill up the squad if you wanted to, with loads of names. But it was a bit of quality that we were looking for because that eventually would be, I think, of paramount importance between now and January.”

O’Neill wants fewer gambles, more guarantees. Especially at the back.

Young cover, big stage

In Johnston’s absence, 19-year-old Colby Donovan has stepped into the spotlight and handled it with composure, impressing in the 3-0 first-leg win over LASK at Celtic Park. His emergence offers a timely boost, and perhaps a glimpse of the future.

Scotland international Anthony Ralston is another option at right-back, giving O’Neill at least some room to manoeuvre as the fixtures pile up.

But with Johnston sidelined again and Tierney the only natural left-sided full-back, the clock ticks towards 3 September. Celtic are one injury away from a full-blown defensive crisis.

The question now is simple: will the board match O’Neill’s urgency before the window slams shut?