Celtic’s Johansen wants to make his mark

Stefan Johansen has laughed off suggestions he is the Scandinavian Scott Brown.

Celtic’s combative captain is sidelined with a hamstring injury that could keep him out until October. The Hoops, however, certainly haven’t lacked for competitiveness in Brown’s absence.

Johansen, in particular, has been up for the fight with a display that fairly bristled with aggression in the Champions League qualifier win over KR Reykjavik in midweek. He snapped into his 50-50s and had a verbal and physical set-to with KR’s Baldur Sigurdsson after being caught with a late tackle.

“You never want to lose players like Broony because he means a lot to the team,” says the 23-year-old Norwegian. “But when he is out, someone else needs to take charge. Charlie Mulgrew and I are in there now, which I enjoy because he is a great footballer and I love to play alongside him.

“Like Scott, he is an experienced player who has big respect in the group. But everybody has to make sure they can help the team, and that includes myself.

“The manager has told me I can maybe be a bit stronger in the tackle, and I am trying to do that. Against Reykjavik, their player squared up to me after we’d clashed, but that’s football it is a contact sport. After the game we spoke, and it was no problem.

“Sigurdsson tried to win the ball but he caught me late, and I told him it wasn’t necessary. It was a good fight but we shook hands at the end.

“I’m not, however, the Norwegian Scott Brown!”

Signed for £2m from Stromsgodset in January, Johansen had only a few months to work with manager Neil Lennon prior to his departure from the club.

With Lennon’s replacement being his old boss Ronny Deila, he is, if anything, in an even stronger position then he was before.

“I feel comfortable under Ronny. He has done a very good job up to now, and I think the future looks bright,” says Johansen. “The manager has spoken to all the players about what he expects from us. He likes small details. He has told me what I can improve on and be better at. We try to improve every day.”

Given the success or failure of Celtic’s season will effectively be judged on the outcome of the Champions League qualifiers they are playing now, it is a sensible plan. The Hoops will hardly have time to draw breath after yesterday’s friendly in Hamburg, before a tricky trip to face Legia Warsaw on Wednesday.

Success over the two legs against the Polish champions, and they will be guaranteed European football until at least Christmas.

“We had a good pre-season. Match fitness is coming now, so it’s looking good,” says the Celtic star. “Some teams are in mid-season in the Champions League and some teams aren’t. We just need to be sure that we are ready for them, and against KR we did that.

“The next round will be tougher than Reykjavik, we know that. It will get harder and harder but that is the Champions League and that’s the way it should be.”