Canada and AJ played it smart with his hamstring. Celtic should do the same.

A few days ago, I wrote about the latest injury crisis at Ibrox involving Rabbi Matondo. Against Celtic last weekend, Matondo felt his hamstring go, but, inexplicably, he was kept on the pitch. Now, as a result, he’s set to be out for up to three months.

As I said in that piece, it’s hard to muster any sympathy for the club given the absurdity of the decision. Anyone with an ounce of sense would know how risky it was to leave him out there, but they did it anyway. This is at a club that, after suffering multiple injury problems last season, promised to get to the bottom of it and resolve the issue.

When I got back from Manchester on Sunday morning, I checked social media and saw that Alistair Johnston had picked up a hamstring injury while playing for Canada and had come off the pitch. Naturally, there were immediate concerns about how serious the injury was and how long it might keep him out of the Celtic side. Fortunately, today’s update suggests it was just tightness rather than anything more serious.

What stood out about the situation were the comments from the Canadian national coach. He explained they took AJ off immediately after consulting with him. “He knows his own body,” the coach said, which is a tremendous attitude from both the manager and the player. They knew not to take any chances, not to be reckless, and to handle the situation responsibly.

I was delighted that my piece about AJ last week was so well received. I watched that interview he gave whilst over there with a lot of satisfaction that we had such a mature and dedicated professional in our club, and in some ways it inspired the piece that followed it about our team being full of leaders and team-players with the same will to win.

AJ exemplifies those qualities; I wonder if we have our next captain there? He certainly has the right mindset and the right attitude for it.

Now, it is possible that AJ could be fit for the weekend, our game at home against Hearts, but I’d suggest leaving him out until he’s had a full evaluation and a proper rest period. Celtic can’t afford to take any risks with such a critical player, and AJ himself is wise enough not to push his limits unnecessarily.

Johnston is a warrior, someone who will endure knocks for the cause, but he’s also smart. He understands that this is not something to mess with – the effects of a hamstring injury can be significant. With big Champions League games ahead, he will want to be at his best and to play his part in them. An injury like the one Matondo has would have put him out for the majority of the games, including two massive away matches at Dortmund and Atalanta.

It’s better for both AJ and the club if he sits out the weekend’s game if necessary so we can have him at his peak for the challenges ahead.

Fortunately, Tony Ralston is coming back from international duty with more minutes under his belt and should be ready to face Hearts on Sunday if selected.

There’s no need to take unnecessary risks here.

Hearts are on a poor run of form, and we’re flying high. We’ve seen how well Tony can perform when called upon, providing the same attacking threat and defensive solidity as AJ. So, there’s really no reason for concern if Johnston sits this one out. Ensuring he’s ready for the game against Slovan Bratislava, a week on Wednesday, our first home game and our first chance to put points on the board; that is far more important.

I’m just grateful that both the player and the Canadian coaching staff have been sensible about this situation. They took AJ off as soon as he felt discomfort, which has allowed us to breathe a collective sigh of relief today. Of course, we’re not entirely out of the woods yet – we’ll have to wait and see what any scans reveal – but for now, the quick decision to act has resulted in an outcome that appears much less severe than it could have been.

You only have to look across the city at Matondo to see what happens when you take foolish risks. They gambled, and now they’re paying the price. In contrast, AJ’s situation has been handled professionally, likely saving us from a lot of grief in the weeks to come.