Brendan Rodgers has praised ‘brilliant’ Mikey Johnston for the sparkling form he is displaying on loan at West Bromwich Albion, saying that he will sit down with the winger in the summer and discuss whether or not his future lies at Celtic.
Rodgers has been hugely impressed by what Johnston has produced for the Baggies in The Championship, with the Republic of Ireland international scoring six times in just 10 appearances.
It is a level of consistency that Johnston has struggled to replicate in a Celtic jersey throughout his career, and while Rodgers has never doubted the 24-year-old’s ability, he did suggest that perhaps the ‘different weight of shirt’ was a factor in his failure to nail down a regular place in the club’s starting XI.
When asked what he had made of Johnston’s recent form at West Brom, Rodgers said: “Brilliant. I’ve said before about Mikey’s talent.
“He has been here a long time. Listen, the shirt is a different weight of shirt when you leave here. But Mikey has always shown the talent.
“He has had a number of years where he has picked up lots of injuries and he needed to get a run of games. I spoke to him in the summer when he was looking to go on loan, and I said stay and get your training right, because you’ve not had a period of training consistently never mind playing games.
“He was able to do that, then he featured in some games for us, and once he trained and featured it was then about getting him game time. He has gone and done fantastic and shown the talent everyone knows he has.
“Hopefully he continues with that and then we can look at it again in the summer.
“He’s 24 years of age now, he’s not a baby, he is a boy who wants to play. He has lots of talent and you’ve seen that going down into the Championship. He’s scored some fantastic goals but it’s not a surprise. You see him in training, and he has that ability.
“It’s all about the consistency and being fit and available. He’s shown that now over this part of the season and hopefully that continues until the end of the season at West Brom.”
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