Mikey Johnston told he lets Celtic mental element get better of him as Neil Lennon raises 'frustration' woe

Mikey Johnston has been told he needs to control his "frustration" and play "consistently well" if he's going to be turn his Celtic cameo into long-term success.

That's the verdict of Celtic legend Neil Lennon, who famously appeared to tell the winger to 'f*** off' after suffering an injury at McDiarmid Park in 2020, but it was at the same venue Johnston enjoyed a galvanising return to form on Sunday. The 24-year-old has been handed extra minutes recently as a result of injuries to Liel Abada and Daizen Maeda, and the Irish international showed his quality off the bench against St Johnstone last time out.

Asked about Johnston's re-emergence into Celtic first team plans following his loan spell at Vitoria de Guimaraes, Lennon, who managed Johnston during his second spell as Hoops boss, told PLZ Soccer: “He gets very frustrated very quickly if things aren’t going for him. That overrides what he should be doing. He lets the mental side of the game get the better of him.

"He’s always been gifted despite a horrendous run of injuries. He wasn’t featuring at all but he’s not a young kid anymore. He might be feeling this is his last chance saloon at Celtic and he has to not just play, but play consistently well.”

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