CELTIC have suffered a backlash to the decision to allow crocked Alistair Johnston to join up with Canada during the international break.

The right-back has not featured since limping off in the 2-1 Europa League win over Sturm Graz at Parkhead on October 23 last year.

The experienced defender had just come back after a hamstring strain that cut short his participation in the Champions League exit to Kairat Almaty in August and eventually forced the player to undergo surgery in a bid to rectify the problem.

The 27-year-old full-back was expected to play at some stage in the crucial seven-game league run-in, but that hope looks to have ended after Johnston pulled up in a training session with his Canadian team-mates as they prepared for World Cup warm-ups against Iceland and Tunisia.

His return has now been placed on the backburner as Martin O’Neill, preparing his squad for tomorrow’s must-win encounter against Dundee at Dens Park, admitted: “Alistair has had a wee bit of a setback.

“He went away with the Canadian national side, was doing some running and had a bit of a setback on his final day of training, which was really disconcerting for us.