THE HOOK FOR the question was obvious, the exchange which followed amusing and good natured.
The Republic of Ireland play the Netherlands tomorrow and it turns out that Celtic winger Mikey Johnston might just get the chance to come up against Denzel Dumfries once again.
The last time he did so was in September 2018, when Johnston was representing his native Scotland in an U21 Euro qualifier.
“Yeah, I think I did,” Johnston replied when asked.
“Dumfries marked you,” he was informed by one of the journalists in the FAI press conference room.
“Was he playing, yeah?” Johnston wondered.
“Do you remember it?”
“I think we got beat.”
“No, you won…”
“Oh, we won 2-0…”
“2-1″ Johnston was informed.
“I remember that game,” he replied, laughing. “Fraser Hornby scored two, that one? I remember that. I don’t know what age I was, 16 or 17. Yeah, not much [memory of it] to be fair. I don’t know if I gave him (Dumfries) a hard time, but no, I can’t remember much about it. It’s been five or six years now and that was at youth level so it’s completely different.”
And so began some reflections of a former Celtic prodigy now aiming for rejuvenation in an Ireland shirt.
Johnston was 18 during that game in question. He had already made his first-team debut a year previously and in the space of 12 months which followed signed two improved long-term contracts to ensure his future was at Celtic Park.
It’s one which is now uncertain given he may leave Glasgow – at least on loan – this January in search for regular football.
A knee ligament injury in 2020 followed by setbacks afterwards robbed Johnston of key time in his career when he was primed to emerge from starlet status into something more lasting.
Now he is caught in the halfway house of being a 24-year-old who feels he still has greater heights to reach.
“I’d like to have done a lot more at this stage of my career, obviously. I had 18 months at one stage of quite bad injuries but I seem to have overcome that now and I’m playing. I would like to have done a lot more,” he accepted.
“It comes hand in hand. People expected me to do more and I expected more of myself but there has been a lot of factors into why I haven’t done that, injuries probably been the main one.
“I didn’t have too much trust in my body at one stage, I was afraid to get injured and there was stuff happening but, as I said, I seem to have overcome that. I did have an injury at the start of the year but it was a freak one and maybe 18 months before that I was fine with no injuries and I’m confident again.
“Obviously what happens on the pitch affects your life massively and every footballer will tell you that. It’s hard to be happy when you’re not doing what you love. It is hard to be happy when you’re not playing all the time but at the same time you have to detach yourself from football at times.
“It is a little bit up and down but it is character building,” Johnston continued.
“It is where you get your determination. I have got through this before and I’ll get through it again.”
He doesn’t have to look far for inspiration, or to get an idea of how quickly fortunes can change when all looks lost.
Liam Scales’ revival under Brendan Rodgers at Celtic has been one of the success stories of 2023 from an Irish football perspective.
“My mate!’ Johnston beams. “It’s good to see him playing so well and doing what he’s doing, I’m so happy for him. It can be done. He thought he was out the door but now he’s back playing and he’s a regular in the team, so it can definitely be done.”
Ange Postecoglu was the man who didn’t see enough from Scales to warrant keeping him around, a loan spell to Aberdeen keeping him ticking over at the same time as Johnston went to Vitória SC in the Portuguse top flight.
He had initially impressed the Australian – now in charge of Tottenham Hotspur – before an ankle injury sidelined him.
“I want to be involved in Ireland camps. I want to be playing for Ireland. Realistically, if I’m not playing [at club level] I won’t be getting picked unless I go out and do really well,” Johnston acknowledged.
“It makes it a lot harder. I’m definitely going to have to force my way into the [Celtic] team or see what happens. I’m not sure what’s going to happen in January, but I do want to play.”