Wolves loanee wows on Celtic debut as boss makes statement after tough decision over summer signing
The recruit signed for Celtic from Wolves at the end of the transfer window.
Martin O’Neill has hailed Wolves loanee Sam Johnstone after making his debut for the club away at St Johnstone.
The experienced goalkeeper capped by England previously joined the Hoops on a season long loan deal as the transfer window reached a crescendo. He replaced Viljami Sinisalo and made an excellent save at 0-0 as the Hoops downed Simo Valakari’s side by a single goal. Mika Baur struck after half time to maintain Celtic’s perfect domestic start ahead of Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup quarter final versus Rangers.
There were tough conversations with Sinisalo over the move but O’Neill was left delighted with what his recruit from Wolves was able to produce before cramp took hold. He said: “The save was fantastic. Really, really brilliant reaction save. He's been a fine goalkeeper. It's just a matter of getting up to speed with things.
How did Sam Johnstone’s Celtic debut go?
“I think he took a bit of cramp then. A goalkeeper taking cramp, whatever next. But anyway, I think Peter Shilton took cramp way back in 1979 as well too, so I shouldn't complain. Yes, Viljami’s done very, very well indeed. But you need to find out. While I do not want to use games like this, I have to find out about a number of players.
“For instance, Oliver Sorensen started the game tonight. Our main man only came on in the last 10 or 15 minutes. So it does, it gives you food for thought. Yes, yes (have a chat with Sinisalo). But you need competition for places.
“Yes, I spoke to him, and he's taken it. We'll see what happens on Sunday. But we've got loads and loads of games, and it is really nice to know that I have actually two really decent goalkeepers.”
Martin O’Neill on St Johnstone 0-1 Celtic
On the game, O’Neill said: "A win is a win. I'm not sure what to make of it, really. We could've scored a number of goals, particularly after we scored. It's difficult to score goals, there's no question about it. We made it look impossible. Delighted to have won the game. Lots to still improve on.
"We've got to get players into the penalty box to score goals. If you're sitting outside, you'll not get it. Once we got the goal, which obviously gave us momentum, I felt we were kind of strong there for a good period of the game but never able to put the game beyond St Johnstone.”
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