Mikey Johnston insists his loan exit to Vitoria Guimaraes is not a signal of a future away from Celtic - but admitted he had to leave Parkhead to change opinions.
The winger, a newly capped Ireland international, headed to Portugal for the season after penning a year extension to his deal at Celtic.
And his goal was to shake off the inaccurate opinions held by some over his future in the game.
However, Johnston insists he wasn't shoved out the door at Celtic as he detailed an "honest conversation" with Ange Postecoglou which left him certain he'd have another shot at the first-team in Glasgow in the summer.
Asked if he sees himself at Celtic long-term, the Ireland cap said: “We will see. I want to enjoy football and I want to play, I don’t want to sit on the bench and not get games. I just want to feel important.
“Last year I did still play 20 games for Celtic, so it’s not like I was pushed out the door. I played in a cup final for him [Postecoglou], he gave me an extra year when I left the club, so that gave me the faith to say he wants me to come back to the club and produce.
“There’s a lot of players in that position, maybe six or seven wingers including myself. I needed consistency, needed more minutes. We had an honest conversation and he said it was best I went elsewhere to get them minutes and I was fine with that.
“I needed a bit of a freshen-up. Opinions on me weren’t accurate and I wanted to change that. I had to get away from the UK, to be honest.”
Johnston made his debut for Ireland earlier this week after switching his international allegiance from Scotland.
The winger stepped off the bench to help his adopted nation to a win over Latvia in which he inspired the winner with some sublime skill and a decent strike for Chiedozie Ogbene to pounce on the rebound.
Former Celtic ace Aiden McGeady previously faced relentless criticism in Scotland after choosing to represent Ireland over Scotland.
But Johnston is not concerned over the possibility of fan fury as he revealed his family ties scattered across Ireland.
“I think times have changed," he said. "I made this decision, people respect that or they don’t. I am my own man and they’ll never know the reasons why I did it.
“It’s always been talked about, it’s in my family, in my blood. My mum and dad, we had a conversation, they said, ‘Go for it if it’s what you want’.
“I have some family in Derry, some in Donegal, some in Dublin as well. I have them all over the place, but Derry is the link. I have had texts from all my aunties and stuff from all over Ireland I didn’t know I even had.”
