Celtic star warns Rangers title challenge not dead as he highlights importance of Old Firm 'buffer'

The Hoops claimed the first silverware of the season on Sunday by defeating their Glasgow rivals in a penalty shoot-out following a 3-3 draw to lift the Premier Sports Cup. Celtic are also strong favourites to clinch a fourth successive league crown as they sit nine points clear of second-placed Aberdeen in the league with a game in hand, with Rangers a further two points behind in third.

But Johnston reckons an improving Rangers side cannot be discounted with the Canadian international highlighting the importance of the current "buffer" between the sides ahead of the next Old Firm fixture at Ibrox on January 2. As is stands Celtic could afford to lose all three remaining derby matches and still win the league by two points.

"They're a good team," Johnston admitted when asked if Rangers remain a live threat this season. "The league is still early. We're in December and there's a long way to go. I think last year was a perfect example of that. We had a pretty solid lead then we threw it away and managed to claw it back at the very end. There's going to be twists and turns. We can only really focus on ourselves.

"At the end of the day, if you just consistently pick up three points you're going to leave yourself in a pretty good position going into matches against [Rangers]. Normally they end up being title deciders, but if you can give yourself as big a buffer as possible it helps take some pressure off and leaves yourself in a good position no matter what the result is in those matches.

"But, again, we've shown a great ability to win these kinds of matches and I think that's something that's deep rooted in this team and comes from the leaders we have in James Forrest and Callum McGregor and all those kinds of guys. We're expecting [Rangers] to kick on as well, and over the past couple of weeks they have done, but we know if we play our best football it's really all about us at the end of the day."

Johnston was an injury doubt ahead of the cup final after being forced off during the goalless draw with Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League in midweek. He played through the pain barrier at Hampden before being replaced by Anthony Ralston in the 70th minute.

Asked if he will now need a break to recover, the right-back said: "I guess we'll just see. Realistically, I might not have played this match if it wasn't a cup final. But I made it pretty clear to the medical staff that I wanted to be available and do everything possible. The whole plan was for me to try not to put myself in an awkward position where I could potentially tweak something but I had a weird slip about 10 minutes in and I knew right then that it was going to be a long game to get through. I fought through and when we got to 2-1 I thought, 'I'm really struggling here, let's bring Tony on'. I'm just happy we managed to lift the trophy.”