Alistair Johnston set Celtic return timeline by Brendan Rodgers as boss grants post Copa America 'breather'
The defender's season is still not over as he prepares for the the third-place playoff to round off the tournament.
Brendan Rodgers has revealed Alistair Johnston will sit out Celtic’s transatlantic tour after the Canada star’s Copa America heroics.
The Hoops ace has starred across the pond this summer as the Canucks stormed to the last four of the competition. Johnston’s side were eventually put out by Argentina but will face a third-place play-off against Uruguay.
Rodgers had originally planned to have the full back on board for the USA jaunt – where Celtic will face DC United, Manchester City and Chelsea – but has now told the 26-year-old to stick the feet up and rejoin the squad when they return to Glasgow at the end of the month. The Parkhead gaffer said: “Incredibly, his season is still going. It’s absolutely brilliant.
“He’s got obviously one more game to go at the weekend and then he’ll have a breather. He had a plan and we were probably anticipating that they might not have got to where they were.
“So he would have had to meet us there. But no, we’ll allow him to have a rest and then bring him back and then he’ll be ready to join us for the last week. He’s had a really good tournament and we’ll see him when we come back from America.”
Rodgers was delighted with Johnston’s contribution for the Hoops last season and he’s convinced the defender will kick on again after starring for his national side against the likes of Lionel Messi over the summer. He said: “He’s done very well. He’s been great. He really showed in the second part of the season for us that power and dominance and was really good.
“He’s obviously settled into the club very well. He’s continued that and obviously he’s done great for (Canada boss) Jesse Marsch against these countries.”
Rodgers will allow Johnston extra time to recover but is set to welcome back his other internationals ahead of the American trip, with Scotland stars Callum McGregor, Tony, Ralston, Greg Taylor and James Forrest all due back, along with others such as Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Liam Scales.
The Parkhead boss is hoping to have new recruits on board but there could also be departures with interest ramping up in some of his key men. Italian outfit Atalanta are expected to come back to the table for Matt O’Riley after seeing an initial move rejected, while Hatate is also being watched and striker Oh Hyeon-gyu has increasing options in Europe.
Rodgers has told his in-demand stars it’s business as usual until they are told otherwise. He said: “You never know what will happen but I always say to the guys to just stay in the present. Just stay on the day. Don’t look too far ahead. Don’t think about it too much.
“You look at Oh’s attitude. He was brilliant against Queen’s Park the other night. There have been bits of interest around him but like I said, just stay in the present. If you do that and work hard, then you can just see what will happen after that.”