There are moments in football when you watch something unfold on the pitch and immediately feel that something is not right.

No dramatic music is required. No expert analysis from the television studio is needed. And certainly no former footballer has to explain to us what we can already see with our own eyes.

Sometimes a few seconds are enough to leave you with that horrible feeling in your stomach.

That was precisely how I felt yesterday when Alistair Johnston came onto the pitch during Celtic’s game against Hibernian, only to disappear again 21 minutes later.

I must admit, I found the whole situation deeply unsettling.

Here was a player who has already spent far too much time dealing with hamstring problems, a player Celtic desperately need back in the team, and somebody whose return should have been something to celebrate.

Instead, we watched him come on, begin to settle into the game, and then come straight back off again.

Because apparently Celtic’s injury situation was not quite irritating enough already.

Martin O’Neill said afterwards that Johnston had felt something high up in his hamstring, slightly higher than the area which had troubled him before.

Maybe that distinction turns out to be encouraging.

Maybe it means nothing.

Maybe it is cramp.

Maybe it is another setback.

The point is that we do not know yet, and neither did Johnston nor the medical staff immediately after the game.

That is important.

I am not going to pretend I know what has happened to him.

A supporter looking at a television screen is not a medical diagnosis, however confidently some people occasionally behave as though it is.

But that does not mean seeing Johnston forced off so quickly after his return was not worrying. Of course it was.

Johnston has already spent a considerable amount of time unavailable, and Celtic supporters have been waiting for him because we know exactly what he brings to this team.

He gives us energy. He gives us aggression.

He gives Celtic a proper presence on the right-hand side, and goodness knows this team could use every bit of quality it can get right now.

For twenty minutes yesterday, it looked as though we might finally have him back.

Then football reminded us that hope is dangerous.

The frustration here is not simply about Johnston either.

It is about what repeated injuries do to a squad which is already struggling for

Managers can draw tactical diagrams until their hands fall off.

They can have preferred systems, preferred partnerships and detailed plans for how they want the team to play.

But if important players are constantly unavailable, those plans become much harder to execute.

And when somebody returns from a lengthy absence only to feel something again almost immediately, the uncertainty becomes even worse.

Johnston’s situation matters because a fit Alistair Johnston changes Celtic.

Colby Donovan has done a good job in his absence, and O’Neill was right to praise him for it.

But Johnston is an experienced international and an important first-team player.

Having him available gives the manager another level of quality and another genuine option.

Losing him again would therefore hurt.

That does not mean somebody has necessarily done anything wrong.

Footballers get injured.

Hamstrings are troublesome things.

Sometimes a player can be fully cleared, feel fine in training and then experience discomfort the moment the intensity changes in a competitive game.

Nobody should invent negligence where there is no evidence for it.

But supporters are still perfectly entitled to ask sensible questions about how players are returned after long absences, particularly when somebody suffers repeated problems in the same general area.

Johnston’s long-term fitness has to matter more than getting him back into the side as quickly as possible.

If he needs more time, give him more time.

If there is any doubt, do not gamble.

I would much rather wait another couple of weeks and get Johnston back properly than rush him because Celtic are short of options and watch him disappear again for months.

What made yesterday especially dispiriting was how familiar the whole sequence felt.

Here comes the returning player.

Excellent.

Maybe we are finally getting somebody important back.

Twenty minutes later, he is walking off again.

At this stage, I would quite like Celtic to enjoy a week where the biggest question is whether we played well enough rather than which body part somebody is getting scanned next.

Is that really too much to ask?

And yes, I know football does not work like that.

Sometimes the medical staff can do everything correctly and still end up back at the beginning.

But understanding all of that does not make the situation any less exhausting.

Especially when Johnston himself must be absolutely sick of it.

O’Neill said afterwards that he was disappointed, and you can hardly blame him.

Imagine finally getting yourself back onto the pitch after another prolonged spell out, only to feel something almost immediately and realise that you might be heading straight back into the treatment room.

That must be miserable.

So my first concern here is for the player.

Get him properly assessed.

Find out exactly what has happened.

Give him however much time he needs.

Then bring him back when he is genuinely ready.

Celtic need him, but they need him fit.

For now, all we can do is wait for the medical assessment rather than inventing our own conclusions.

Hopefully this turns out to be nothing more than a scare.

O’Neill himself said it could still be cramp, and at this point I will happily clutch at that possibility with both hands.

Because Celtic supporters have had enough frustration this season already.

We have had European disappointments.

We have had inconsistent performances.

We have had more than enough reasons to question whether the club is operating at the level expected of it.

Another lengthy Alistair Johnston absence would be one problem we really could do without.

So, Alistair, I sincerely hope this is a false alarm.

Get yourself fit.

Take whatever time is required.

And come back properly.

As for the rest of us, we shall wait for the scan and hope Celtic’s injury list does not decide it needs another permanent resident.

Because at this rate we are going to need an entirely separate squad just to keep the treatment room stocked.

And I am fairly sure that was not the squad depth strategy anyone had in mind.

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