The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Johnston looking to kick on in Toulon
Celtic forward Michael Johnston is confident Scotland have enough to get their tournament up and running in Toulon today.
Scot Gemmill’s side opened their campaign in the under-21 competition with a 1-1 draw against Togo and now face hosts France, with St Johnstone’s Jason Kerr and Dundee’s Craig Wighton hoping to feature again.
Johnston provided the assist for Fraser Hornby’s equaliser on Sunday and is looking to make a positive impression on the tournament this summer after a season disrupted by injury that limited the teenager to just five first team appearances.
Scotland face France knowing they already need to avoid defeat if they are to maintain realistic ambitions of qualifying for the final four, and Johnston believes they can trouble the hosts.
“We saw a bit of their opening game against South Korea before our own game against Togo and they’re obviously a good team with talented players,” he said.
“But we think we have enough in our on team to hopefully trouble them and get a good result.”
On his performance against Togo, he added: “I was happy with my assist for Fraser and I did some good things in the game but I feel like I could have done a lot more.
“Hopefully I’ll get the chance to play in the next game against France and help the team out.
“It was tough against Togo but that’s why you come to competitions like this, for a different kind of experience.”