I was lucky to avoid derby red, admits Johnston
· Yahoo Sports
Alistair Johnston has admitted he was "lucky" to avoid being sent off in Celtic's 3-1 derby win over Rangers last weekend.
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The right-back was booked for a first-half challenge that caught Mikey Moore on the ankle after winning the ball in the highly-charged Premiership encounter.
Much debate has followed about the severity of the punishment for Johnston, with Rangers boss Danny Rohl intimating he should have been sent off.
Before the title decider against Hearts at Parkhead on Saturday, Canada international Johnston said: "As a defender now, you have to be so smart with every tackle you put in.
"Was I a little bit lucky? Yeah, probably. Was I intending to injure him? No.
"I was just trying to put a hard tackle in as every single fan on both sides of that rivalry would want their defenders to do.
"I caught him. I thought in the moment that I caught him on the top of the foot. It is what it is. In the moment I thought a yellow card was fair.
"If it was 10 years ago, I would have said 'how is that even a foul'? But that is just the day and age now.
"At the end of the day am I lucky I never got sent off? Probably. But it's football and you need to be able to make tackles.
"I'm glad I stayed on the pitch and managed to win that match."