Sam Johnstone has given Martin O’Neill a headache for Rangers | OneFootball

Martin O’Neill admits Sam Johnstone has thrust himself firmly into contention to start for Celtic against Rangers after impressing on his debut at St Johnstone.

Sam Johnstone of Celtic arrives prior to the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Aberdeen at Celtic Park on September 02, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The on-loan Wolves goalkeeper was handed a surprise first appearance at McDiarmid Park and marked it with a clean sheet as Mika Baur’s goal secured a 1-0 victory.

Johnstone’s standout moment came in the first half when the former England international produced an excellent point-blank save to deny Josh Cotterill.

O’Neill said via Daily Record: “The save was fantastic. Really, really brilliant reaction save. He’s been a fine goalkeeper. It’s just a matter of getting up to speed with things.

“I think he took a bit of cramp then. A goalkeeper taking cramp, whatever next. But anyway, I think Peter Shilton took cramp way back in 1979 as well too, so I shouldn’t complain.”

Asked whether Johnstone had given him a selection headache ahead of Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup showdown at Ibrox, O’Neill said: “Yes, he’s done very, very well indeed. But you need to find out. While I do not want to use games like this, I have to find out about a number of players.

“For instance, Oliver Sorensen started the game tonight. Our main man only came on in the last 10 or 15 minutes. So it does, it gives you food for thought.”

O’Neill also revealed he spoke with Viljami Sinisalo before making the change between the sticks.

He said: “Yes, yes. But you need competition for places.

“Yes, I spoke to him, and he’s taken it. We’ll see what happens on Sunday. But we’ve got loads and loads of games, and it is really nice to know that I have actually two really decent goalkeepers.”

Johnstone was one of five changes from the Celtic side which defeated St Mirren 2-1, with Camilo Duran also rested after his impressive start to the season.

O’Neill was pleased his rotated team still collected three points and said: “Well, it is in that aspect. So, Sorensen gets on, Duran doesn’t start for us. He’s just been class. He looked tired in the game against St Mirren.

“But I’m not surprised for the amount of things that he does for us, both with the ball, which is terrific, and also the work that he does off it.

“He’s second only to Daizen Maeda in terms of closing players down. So I wanted to try and see if we could do without him, and the answer is probably not!”

Kasper Høgh also returned from injury but failed to find the net, although O’Neill dismissed any suggestion that Celtic’s record signing is struggling for confidence.

He said: “I think it’s what you do. It’s your overall picture. Of course, centre-forwards, or strikers, they live and die by goals. When he scored the hat-trick against Kilmarnock, he was up and running, which was terrific.

“No, I don’t think that. That was his first time back, really, from the thing that he got in Austria. I thought that he did fine without getting a goal.

“Sometimes it happens, but he’s trying to get into that position, which I thought he did in the second half.”

Meanwhile, O’Neill eased any concerns surrounding Cameron Carter-Vickers after the defender was left out of the squad in Perth.

The Celtic boss expects the American to be available for Sunday’s trip to Ibrox and also praised Dane Murray after handing him another opportunity.

He said: “I’m hoping that he would be available, yes, for us. He has hardly missed a minute of pre-season, and also the games. He’s been out for a year, and he was just feeling really sore on Saturday evening.

“I’ve got much time for big Dane Murray. I’ve got a lot of time for him. I think he’s got a proper career. His injuries have curtailed him for a while, but he’s just coming through.

“I think he’s got a really decent future, and things to pick up on. But yes, in terms of Carter-Vickers, he should be okay for Sunday.”

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