West Brom winger Mikey Johnston, borrowed on a loan transfer from Celtic, has been a revelation at The Hawthorns since JanuaryJed Wallace reckons his West Bromwich Albion attacking counterpart Mikey Johnston is currently the best player in the Championship after the storming impact he has made at The Hawthorns following his January loan move from Scottish champions Celtic. Winger Johnston has been electric on the left for Carlos Corberan since breaking into the side. In seven starts, he has scored six goals and, on during Albion’s 2-0 win over Bristol City on Saturday, he played a hand in both goals as Tom Fellows and then Wallace himself netted either side of half time to extend the Baggies’ current unbeaten run. Johnston bagged a brace in the trouncing of Huddersfield Town a week earlier and has already established a habit of cutting inside and catching opposing goalkeepers unaware.
It’s form which has helped Albion enormously to maintain their play-off charge, after an otherwise uncertain winter; having lost Jeremy Sarmiento when his loan was cut short, Johnston’s acquisition – coupled with the progress made by Fellows – has left Albion in a much better shape than they had been previously. Wallace has been very taken by the Irish international’s impact and sees the confidence levels flowing in his new environment. “Right now, for me, he’s the best player in the league at the moment, the way he’s playing,” he said. “He actually said to me after the QPR game ‘maybe I should’ve played you in on one of them’ and I said ‘the way you’re playing you just kick it towards the goal and we’ll go from there!’ He’s on fire at the moment. Jonno’s been brilliant and I’m happy for him. “When you’re at a big club like Celtic and people there maybe don’t believe in him maybe as much as he would like, confidence-wise it’s great to see people step outside their comfort zone, come here and do well. We needed that in January. All three in their own way, even Cal, I know he’s not played a lot of football but his enthusiasm is brilliant, he drags people [along] in training with his energy and Andi scored a couple of massive goals for us. “January additions have given us a real energy and now we have Matty and Josh to come back into it as well, you have to believe what Carlos is doing because he knows it’s a 95-minute game of football and you’ve seen recently our goals off the bench, that can make a difference with the squad and substitutes we can bring on.” Johnston also made a significant stride forward in terms of his own fitness levels on Saturday; having not played 90 minutes in a competitive match since his loan spell with Portuguese outfit Vitoria Guimaraes last May, he completed his first game for Albion against the Robins. That ought to stand him in particularly good stead for the remainder of this campaign as Albion seek to cement their place in the play-offs. It was a long time since he last played a full game,” Carlos Corberan pointed out. “It’s important for him to keep growing as a player, physically and in every aspect of the game. You cannot only evaluate the players from goals and assists, because in the second goal he gave the assist to the player that assisted. “I think in general his contribution is always important but he understands very well and the fact he is one winger who plays wide and inside, even on the right, and to finish attacks, to finish collective actions, to help collective actions or finish an individual action. To have players in this level is very important to win games. “It is always important as a player to break the limit of their minutes, to extend the minutes, that helps you be more ready to repeat those minutes or play with more intensity if you play less minutes. That’s why it’s a positive step. Hopefully he comes back fit and ready to keep showing what he is doing after the international call he has very well deserved.”
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