Mikey Johnston: Celtic winger relishing West Bromwich Albion promotion challenge
- Published
Mikey Johnston (left) was born in Glasgow and played for Scotland at youth level but qualifies to play for the Republic of Ireland through his grandfather.
Celtic winger Mikey Johnston says he is "ready" for the "massive" challenge of playing in the Championship and helping secure West Bromwich Albion's place in the play-offs.
Johnston, 24, scored on his full debut for the Baggies in Tuesday's 2-0 win over Cardiff after joining on loan from the Scottish giants on 1 February.
He will stay at The Hawthorns until the end of the season.
"The Championship is a great place for someone's career," Johnston said.
"I wasn't getting the minutes I wanted at Celtic - I was playing but it was sporadic.
"Sometimes I'd play well and score and then wouldn't play the next game - it was frustrating. It was important for me to get out of Celtic to be honest and when West Brom came up, it's a great opportunity."
Johnston's move to the West Midlands is his second loan away from Glasgow since he made his debut for Celtic as an 18-year-old against St Johnstone in May 2017.
He spent the 2022-23 season with Portuguese top-flight side Vitoria Guimaraes, scoring once in 25 appearances as the club qualified for the Europa Conference League.
Johnston says the switch to England has been "pretty seamless" compared to some of the more obvious issues playing abroad.
"It can be difficult," he told BBC Radio WM. "I moved to Portugal last year and that was little bit harder with the language barrier.
"We've got great guys here like Jed [Wallace] who've helped me settle in really easily.
"I just want to make an impression early and do my talking on the pitch."
Johnston 'has the tools for the job'
After two second-half appearances from the bench, Johnston started his first game for the Baggies on Tuesday, and celebrated by scoring with pretty much his first touch in the opening minute of the match.
The win was Albion's fifth in a row in the Championship at home and kept Carlos Corberan's side firmly in the thick of the race for a play-off place.
Having already played in the Champions League and in Celtic's 2-1 win over Rangers in the Old Firm derby this season, Johnston says he is not fazed by the level of expectation at The Hawthorns.
"The pressure at Celtic's massive. I don't think people realise how big the pressure is," he said.
"It's something I've been exposed to from a young age and it's definitely something I'm looking forward to - I need the pressure to perform.
"It's a massive challenge in a big, tough league - different to what I've experienced before - but I feel like I've got the tools to deal with it.
"It doesn't feel like a step down. It's another massive club in a good league."
Johnston said Baggies boss Corberan is "very demanding" tactically and he is still learning how the Spaniard wants him to operate.
"The manager's been talking about making our home pitch a real difficult place for everyone to come to. It's about winning every game - we've got another big one coming up on Friday [against Southampton] and we want to win that one," he added.
"We want to make the play-offs and the big occasion and those are the occasions I want to play in."