Neil Lennon reveals Celtic 'pestering' of Mikey Johnston payoff but maverick magic catches him unaware

Neil Lennon has revealed he played a role in convincing Celtic loanee Mikey Johnston to ditch Scotland and switch allegiances to Ireland.

The former Scotland Under 21 star switched plumped for Stephen Kenny's side and turned heads on his debut against Latvia The U-turn came about despite winning eight caps for Scot Gemmill's side and scoring a wonder goal against England at the 2018 Toulon Tournament. Johnston, who is on loan from Celtic at Portuguese outfit Vitoria Guimaraes, made his international debut for the Irish last month as a sub against Latvia and France for Stephen Kenny's side.

And former Hoops boss Lennon revealed he tried to persuade Johnston to dump the Scots, along with his then-Parkhead coach Damien Duff, the ex-Chelsea and Ireland ace. Lennon said: "Damien and I were pestering Mikey for months and months; saying ‘don’t play for Scotland, play for Ireland.

"I didn’t actually know until I watched the France game that he had joined up with Ireland. He’s a mercurial player, with good feet and good pace. From what I gather, his form in Portugal has been good and it’s been great to see him get senior caps

A plethora of injury problems curtailed him, but if Mikey can stay fit, he would be a real bonus for Ireland. Hopefully, his injury problems are behind him because he’s a lovely boy and I hope he makes a good run of it.”

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