Relaxed Celtic star cuts Hearts tension with smiles as Sky Sports pundits give him 'good laugh'

If Celtic need someone to lighten the mood, to take the sting out of the build-up to Scottish football’s Premiership title decider, then it is the amiable Canadian, who took press duties in his stride ahead of such a monumental match this Saturday lunchtime.

Johnston has missed most of the season due to a torn hamstring. The right-back managed to get himself fit for the run-in, starting the past three matches. Celtic have won them all, and look a better team for the 27-year-old’s presence.

Before the Celtic press officer had arrived to brief Johnston on the upcoming media conference, the defender sauntered into the room at Lennoxtown. “Shall we just start?” he smiled. You can understand why he has been so badly missed in this Celtic team.

Three games in six days will be a test of Johnston’s match sharpness, but this match against Hearts is not one he is going to miss. A point behind the capital club, Celtic know what the need to do to retain their crown.

"I never felt that we were out of it,” said Johnston, who has endured most of a tricky season from the sidelines. “With the talent that we have in this team, the coaching staff, the size of the club, like it doesn't matter what the injuries are. We all know how good of players we have in that squad. We’ve got full international players that are not necessarily in the matchday squad. So I never thought that we didn't have the talent to compete.

“At some points you're going to look at the table and go, okay, you need to keep the other teams in sight. And we've managed to do that. We've managed to claw and fight and stay in this.

"Would I have said that I would have guaranteed that we'd be in this position? No, I wouldn't have guaranteed it, but at the same time, if I had to bet on it, I probably would have said, yeah, I have a feeling that, you know, come the end of May, we'll still be in it. . So now it's all on us.

“That's all we could ask for is to leave it in our hands. And the fact that we've made it to this point with it still in our hands is great. It's now it's binary. You know, we know exactly what we need to do. It's a win and you win the league, anything else and you lose it. So it's pretty crystal clear to the boys what needs to be done. We're really excited and I have a feeling it's going to be a great atmosphere tomorrow.”

Sky Sports on the Celtic bus

Celtic have won their past six league games. Positive energy and momentum are building just at the right time. They have a Scottish Cup final next weekend against Dunfermline Athletic. A double remains in reach. Johnston skips a beat when asked if this is one of the biggest weeks of his career.

"That's a good question,” he said. “I haven't really looked at it like that. I mean, it'll be up there for sure. I never really reflect on that until I feel like I get to the end of a season or probably the end of my career. And I'll look back and kind of really pinpoint what moments were the most important or influential. Again, anytime there's a trophy on the line, it's a massive week.

“But I look back even on my time here at Celtic, you know, I'm winning a treble and that means that you've obviously you've been in big matches, cup finals, European games, international football as well. But with how much was riding on this, this week, yeah, it probably would be in that short list of one of the biggest weeks of my career.”

The week has been amplified to the fallout to Celtic’s stoppage-time penalty against Motherwell. The VAR call has taken the world by storm. What does Johnston make of it all? "We got on the bus, they got Sky Sports on and that's always a good laugh to hear what they have to say,” he grinned. “Look, at the end of the day, our mindset is, is that it doesn't matter what's being said, whether they agree with it being a pen, don't agree with it being a pen. It doesn't change the fact that it was. Kelechi [Iheanacho] then went up, scored it. And now we are where we are and all we can do now is focus on half 12 on Saturday afternoon.

"Again, I just think with VAR, there's going to be decisions that go for you. There's going to be ones that go against you. And if you spend too much time nitpicking every single one, you're going to just drive yourself crazy. Us in here, we just don't really get caught up in it because at the end of the day, if you're going to do that, then you could probably go back a week, a month, six months back. And before you know it, you're just re-officiating the whole season, looking for, should that have been a pen for that? I think at that point, then you forget what the sport's all about.”

Johnston doesn’t appear to be fazed by the occasion - but he says it’s not quite like that. “You want to feel a little bit of nerves,” he explained. “Otherwise you're not the right club for you. I think that that's something that's important is that you're at a place where it feels bigger than you. That's what Celtic is, because you realise, you know, you're representing such a massive football club and such a massive fanbase that it doesn't matter what the match is, whether it's the first round of the Scottish Cup or a match like this, that you need to go out and find a way to win.”

And that’s the situation on Saturday afternoon. Win or bust for Celtic. There is no alternative.