Canadian national team fullback Alistair Johnston had surgery on his hamstring on Tuesday following a setback in his recovery from injury.
The 27-year-old hailing from Aurora, Ontario, sustained the initial injury during Glasgow Celtic’s Champions League match against Kairat Almaty on August 20. He made a comeback on October 23 against Sturm Graz from Austria but had to leave the game after just 23 minutes.
Johnston, who has represented Canada 56 times and has been a key player under coach Jesse Marsch, shared news of his surgery through a social media update.
“These past months have been extremely challenging for me personally since I started my career,” he stated. “Nevertheless, I am pleased to announce that I underwent a successful surgery today to mend my hamstring, and hopefully, this marks the beginning of the end for this injury.
“I appreciate all the support during this period and I am eagerly looking forward to returning fully fit later this season to contend for a title and represent at the home World Cup.”
Johnston’s teammate at Celtic, Callum Osmand, also had hamstring surgery.
“So they will be sidelined for quite some time,” Celtic’s interim manager Martin O’Neill mentioned in a statement to the BBC.
O’Neill explained that Johnston’s surgery was necessitated after a scan revealed the extent of the damage.
“They had to wait for some time to get a clear view of the hamstring, and the scan indicated a tear as well,” he noted. “It’s unfortunate because everyone acknowledges he’s a truly talented player.”
Marsch is facing the absence of several other players leading up to the November friendlies against Ecuador and Venezuela.
The list of injured players includes captain Alphonso Davies, Moise Bombito, Sam Adekugbe, Jacob Shaffelburg, Liam Millar, and Luc de Fougerolles.