Alistair Johnston declares Celtic 'hard done by' in Champions League before brutally honest reality check to teammate

This never ending hard luck story is starting to wear a bit thin for Alistair Johnston’s liking. Yes, Celtic may have traded blows with Lazio under the lights on Wednesday and came within a brush of Daizen Meada’s sock of flooring the Italians with a knock-out blow.

But, ultimately, it all ended the way it almost always does. In absolute agony and with nothing more to show for their efforts than the bruises of another Champions League skirmish gone wrong. That’s 10 years and counting now since Celtic actually came out on top of one of these group games on home soil. And Johnston admits the time has come for them to start swapping plaudits and pats on the head for some actual points.

When Pedro’s header looped into the back of Joe Hart’s net deep in injury time on Wednesday night it felt like a horribly familiar end to the same old movie. And it’s left Scotland’s champions staring the exit door in the face just two games into their return to European football’s top stage - following on from a 2-0 defeat on opening night at Feyenoord when Celtic were floored by two red cards.

With a rueful shake of the head the crestfallen Canadian said: “Yes, I probably feel as if we have been a bit hard done by again. But at the same time Lazio are a very good team. They buried their chances and we didn’t. So, at the end of the day, we can’t really hold our hands up and say we deserved more.

“They’re the team that scored more than us and that’s the brutal honesty about football. I do feel there were really good spells for us, especially in the second half when we looked really comfortable.

“That’s something we can take and grow as a team. But we also need to find a way to win that game. We want to be at that next step where we use the