Mikey Johnston reveals when he knew Celtic career was OVER as one move triggers West Brom loan

The Ireland international left Celtic Park in January and has been in fine form for the Baggies.

Honest Mikey Johnston admits the overload of wide men at Celtic by the end of the January window saw him seal a loan move to West Brom.

The winger moved south to the English Championship in the final hours of the window with Brendan Rodgers boasting a host of attacking options on the flanks. The arrival of £3million man Nicolas Kuhn from Rapid Vienna proved to be a step too far with James Forrest, Luis Palma, Yang, Liel Abada and Daizen Maeda also in the building - while Marco Tilio also moving on mid-season to return to Melbourne City on loan.

Since making the move to the Hawthorns, Ireland international Johnston has netted three goals including a stunning strike against Coventry last weekend to boost the Baggies play-off hopes. The form of the 24-year-old has sparked calls from West Brom fans to make the deal permanent at the end of the campaign.

And Johnston admits he knew that he would struggle to get chances at Parkhead with so many players in the same position - including the arrival of Kuhn. Asked if he needed to get away from Celtic and focus on regular game-time by Sky Sports, Johnston said: "Yeah, look it was just a game time thing.

"I think at the end we had eight wingers. It was always going to be tough to get the minutes I wanted to get and I wanted to build on last year.

"I am getting older now and I want to progress my career. This felt like a nice step for me and everything was agreed between two clubs, so it was quite seamless."