Sam Johnstone has warned that Thursday's dramatic win over Besiktas must be seen as just the first step on Celtic's road to recovery.

The pulsating 3-2 triumph over the Turks came after Martin O'Neill's men had lost four straight matches in Europe with just three wins in the previous ten matches in all competitions.

As timely as the result was, the keeper believes there's a lot of hard work for the side to get through before anyone can talk about it being a turning point in what's been a trying season to this stage.

Asked if the spirit in the camp had been affected by a string of adverse results, Johnstone said: 'Of course it has. I think the results affect it.

'This club's not used to losing and we've probably lost too many games for this club.

'We all realise that, but we have to put things right in each game.

'The lads go out to win every game, so the camp's good.

'It was tough. We're honest players, we're honest people and honest with each other.

'You could see on Thursday night that the lads put a good fight in and got the result.'

Signed on loan from Wolves for the season, Johnstone was handed his chance by O'Neill only to drop out of the team following an indifferent display in the 3-0 loss at Ibrox on September 13.

But having been selected ahead of Viljami Sinisalo in the past five matches, the former England goalkeeper believes he's steadily making progress.

'To get a run of games for any player, you find your rhythm,' Johnstone explained.

'It was a new club for me, a new team, so that takes probably a couple of games to get used to as well.

'I think I've got to get used to them (defenders), they've got to get used to me and that only happens through playing and through games. It's great to be in the team.

'It's good. I love playing. It's a great team to play in, a great club to play for and we keep taking it game by game. We go again on Sunday.'

Johnstone moved to Celtic at the start of a difficult period which saw the side struggle for consistency.

Adamant that he's never regretted moving up to Scotland for a minute, however, he added: 'The expectation, rightly so, for this place is to win games.

'Unfortunately, we hadn't quite met that expectation and the lads know that.

'Like I said, we try to win every game and put things right.

'It's brilliant to play for this club. The passion of the fans, good and bad. The standard of players on the pitch, day in, day out at training.

'When I came, I said I didn't have to think twice about coming here.'

Having heard so much about Celtic Park on the night of a big European win, the keeper was glad to finally witness it for himself.

'It was unbelievable to experience this place, rocking and get the win,' he reflected.

'It's a great feeling. It's great to play in front of and feel the passion of the fans. That does help the lads and drives the lads on.

'As you could see, there were times in the game where we struggled a little bit, but the lads dug in. It's never going to be easy.

'In the Europa League, you're playing top teams and, after last week's result as well, we were under a lot of pressure. The lads came up with the goods.

'We've still got a chance to qualify, and that's our aim, so we'll take the next game the same as any other game, that we go to win.'