Alistair Johnston has opened up on Celtic’s defeat to Feyenoord and praised one player for his performance in the 2-0 defeat in Holland.
The Canadian international was himself singled out for praise for his outstanding display in De Kuip, but Johnston said that if it wasn’t for Joe Hart, Celtic would have been out of the tie long before Calvin Stengs opened the scoring just before half-time.
Johnston said [Daily Record], “I’m not necessarily saying we’re inexperienced, but we do have a lot of players who were making their Champions League debuts, myself included. The only guy who’s got a ton of them is probably Joe Hart. I think again he played a really good game.
“He made a couple of big saves for us which is what we needed, it helped us stay in it. We were actually in that game. But obviously once you go down to 10 and then to nine away from home you’re asking a lot from yourselves.
“Leading up to that there were definitely some positives for us to take. But at the same time it was definitely a learning curve. I do feel deep down we were able to walk away feeling that we can compete with these teams if we keep 11 players on the pitch.”
Joe Hart has been excellent for Celtic this season
The £1m 2021 signing has been is superb form for the Hoops this season. Hart has produced some huge saves for Celtic this season despite rumours that the club where looking to sign his replacement this summer.
TBR Celtic is a huge fan of the 36-year-old. He brings so much to the club than just his goalkeeping abilities.
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His performance against Rangers in the 1-0 Glasgow Derby win wasn’t so much about any saves he made but more about how he galvanised and guided an inexperienced backline in Liam Scales and Gustaflagerbielke through a difficult fixture.
Hart has proven that he should not be written off at Celtic just yet. He will need to be replaced at some point but, for now, the big ‘keeper is doing an excellent job for Brendan Rodgers.
In other news, ‘Great chance’: Journalist tips £10m player to extend his stay at Celtic