米基·约翰斯顿首先承认，他很幸运能够入选爱尔兰国家队，参加2024年欧洲杯预选赛最后一场对阵荷兰的比赛。
在过去的一年里，这位多变的边锋已经成为了斯蒂芬·肯尼球队中不可或缺的一部分，然而，他在回到格拉斯哥的俱乐部后还在努力争取上场时间。
约翰斯顿第一次进入国家队是在被租借到葡萄牙联赛的时候，当时他效力于Vitória de guimar
事实上，约翰斯顿仍在努力争取进入帕克海德俱乐部的比赛日名单，他们目前正在参加欧冠小组赛，本赛季他只在联赛中出场过一次。
从学生时代起，他就在他的童年俱乐部，并且仍然梦想着为男孩队打冠军杯，约翰斯顿并没有放弃进入一线队的希望，然而，他暗示他可能会在不久的将来考虑他的选择。
但与此同时，他带来了爱尔兰队明显缺乏的兴奋感，因此，他在目前的预选赛中享受了大量的比赛时间。
约翰斯顿在3月对阵拉脱维亚的友谊赛中替补出场，他在国家队首秀中发挥了重要作用，帮助肯尼的球队3-2反败为胜。
就在几天后，他被派往爱尔兰主场迎战法国的预选赛的最后阶段，在比赛的最后几分钟，肯尼的球队轰炸了法国的球门，试图挽回一些对他们尊敬的对手。
不幸的是，肯尼的战术在那场比赛中被挫败了，法国队差点以1-0取胜，但到目前为止，约翰斯顿已经赢得了一个边缘球员的声誉，与另一个在格拉斯哥出生的凯尔特人队踢球的爱尔兰人艾登·麦克吉蒂(Aiden McGeady)没有太大不同。
在与荷兰队的比赛中，约翰斯顿出场6次，在6月对阵直布罗陀的比赛中打进了自己的首粒进球，并在10月的客场比赛中帮助爱尔兰4-0大胜。
他是否能入选周六晚上的11人首发阵容还有待观察，但如果爱尔兰想要在最后时刻进球，他肯定会发挥作用。
“这是一个积极的开始，”约翰斯顿周三在前往阿姆斯特丹之前对媒体说。
“我只踢了6场比赛，也只首发了一次，但我认为开局不错。我得到了很多来自不同地方的赞扬，我只是想保持这种状态，继续打好比赛。
当被问及现任国家队主帅在他的职业生涯中扮演了什么角色时，他补充道:“非常重要。”
“很明显，他把我叫了进来，让我完成了处子秀。当其他教练可能不会召唤我的时候，因为我没有发挥出我想要的那么多，但他对我表现出了很大的信心，我只是想回报他。
“他是个很棒的人。所有的小伙子都爱他，很多人也爱他。他在工作中付出了一切，我们也在努力为他取得成绩，但事情并没有如我们所愿。我们很乐意把他留在这里。”
当被问及为什么肯尼会征召一个本赛季上场时间如此之少的球员时，约翰斯顿说他相信他会给球队带来一些不同的东西。
"I think I just offer the team something different, to be honest," said Johnston. "My one v one ability, and I can make things happen that maybe other players couldn't.
"It's tough to say. It's the manager who makes the decision to bring me in, and I have to repay him and show him what I can do on the pitch.
"I hope I get some game time here. It does help when the manager has shown faith in me. He has given me a lot of confidence to go out and play the way I want to and I want to do that again.
"Obviously, if I can make an impact at international level then I should be able to do that at club level. It’s a big stage and if I can show that then all the better."
As for his club future, Johnston said that he has not spoken to Celtic manager Rodgers too much about his current predicament, however, he looks set to make a call in January, mindful that his international place would be in jeopardy with a sustained spell of inactivity on the sidelines.
"No player is going to be happy when they're not playing," said the Celtic winger. "Ultimately, it's up to me and I need to try and force my way into that team. I have until January to do that, and I will try and give it everything to do that, but we just have to see what happens.
"Not much in the last sort of month," he added, in relation to communication with Rodgers. "We've had chats here and there. It's tough decisions for the manager to make and ultimately, it's up to me.
"I want to be involved in Ireland camps. I want to be playing for Ireland. Realistically, if I'm not playing I won't be getting picked unless I go out and do really well.
"I'm not going to say anything bad about Celtic and I would love for it to happen at Celtic," said Johnston, when asked whether another move abroad could tempt him in the New Year. "I would love to play. But I'm 24 now as well and I want to play every game.
"A big dream of mine would have been to play in the Champions League for Celtic. It's sort of what I wanted to do as a boy, so hopefully it happens but if it doesn’t, it’s not the end of the world."
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