Alistair Johnston and the road to Celtic extra efforts amid tapping into the David Beckham playbook

Former Celtic winger Steve Guppy has revealed how hours of lonely practice sessions during the Covid lockdown helped Alistair Johnston become Canada’s answer to David Beckham.

Guppy played a key role in helping coach rookie college draft Johnston to his first team debut in the MLS at Nashville FC. And the Englishman - a key man in Martin O’Neill’s revolution at the turn of the century - has told for the first time how the lessons he learned during three separate stints under the Irishman have fast-tracked Johnston’s progress at Parkhead.

Guppy, said: “Crossing the ball is something I don’t think people work on enough. Little details make all the difference. Many years ago, when I was at Wycome Wanderers, I was a non-league player. Martin O’Neill got the job and he obviously brought in John Robertson and Steve Walford.

“John Robertson was one of the greatest wingers we had ever seen in England and Scotland. Steve Walford was an excellent full-back in his own right as well. They helped me with my crossing and they gave me little details which were like lightbulb moments. Then it was down to me to practice.

“That’s what I’m hoping happened with Alistair, where those little nuggets were passed on to him and I think it has made a difference. Too many players hit the first defender when they cross. And then don’t actually think about the reasons why. That was something we tried to install in Alistair.

“Let’s get a little formula of what you need to do every time you cross a ball - almost like on autopilot. Alistair is not really one who will take a player on but if you give him time he’s very similar to David Beckham.

“Don’t get me wrong, David Beckham was a fabulous player. But David Beckham wasn’t great at beating players