Alistair Johnston insists Celtic are going all out to win at Ibrox – because the Premiership title is not yet in the bag.
The Hoops star does not believe Four-in-a-Row is already a certainty despite the champions heading across the city with a colossal 14 point lead over Rangers after just 18 games. Johnston warned the Light Blues there will be no let up though as they are determined to pile more misery on their rivals and extend their massive gap at the top of the pile. Celtic won’t have any fans inside the ground again but the defender said: “For us, winning every match is always the priority. “It’s still just about to be January and it’s still too early to be looking at a league table in my opinion.
“No matter what the point gap is, as long as we focus on ourselves we feel really comfortable we can take care of business. It’s a good sign we have built up a lead. But we had a similar situation last year and struggled a little bit through this winter period.
“All of a sudden leads can evaporate quickly. But our leadership don’t let us stray from what it is to be a Celtic player and what that means.
“When you focus on doing the little things right every day and focus on competing for spots in training, it bodes really well and you don’t get caught up in things.
“It’s another chance to go there and hopefully get a result against our biggest rivals and we’ll see where it goes. It should be a cracker of a match.”
Celtic blasted through an incredible 2024 with just two defeats in 50 matches in Scotland and in the Champions League. Johnston is determined to maintain the impressive festive push to get the New Year off to a flier.
He said: “That would be the perfect start to 2025. We are just taking it game by game and this is the next one – and everyone is excited for it. The game the other day (the 4-0 stroll against St Johnstone) was the perfect set up for it, with a little bit of rotation, everyone feeling fresh and contributing, and everyone playing at a high level.
“When you look at the schedule, with no January break this year, it’s pretty mental, but there’s an understanding in the squad that the manager will need everyone. So far we’ve seen guys step in and step up to the plate, and that is going to bode well for us going through this month and for the rest of the season.”
Johnston has yet to taste defeat in 11 Old Firm games – with nine of them wins – and he knows what to expect heading to Ibrox with no travelling supporters behind them. But the full back is praying this is the last time away fans are shut out.
Johnston said: “Hopefully. I bet the police are hoping it’s not the last one! When I got dropped into that one two years ago, we must have had 750 fans in there. When we equalised pretty late, you could just see what it meant to them.
“Football is about the fans. It’s not really the same, home or away, without away support. I think it’s something everyone wants back in this match.
“Hopefully the authorities can sort it out because it really adds to the atmosphere and the game. It’s a match that is watched all around the world. It does take away from it when there’s no away support.”