Johnstone continues to impress
SAM Johnstone may not have made a first team appearance for Manchester United – but he will make his 100th career outing for Aston Villa against Reading on Saturday.
The 24-year-old goalkeeper has David De Gea and Sergio Romero to contend with for a first team spot at Old Trafford but brings up his century against the Royals at Villa Park this weekend.
Eight separate loan spells at six different clubs have provided Johnstone with the chance to gain invaluable experience.
The second of those loan spells arrived four years ago as Johnstone ventured into the West Midlands with League One side Walsall with just a handful of senior games under his belt.
Johnstone was Walsall’s fifth and final goalkeeper of the 2012/13 season as Dean Smith’s side narrowly missed out on the play-offs, despite a similarly late surge to the one Villa are now experiencing.
And Johnstone, whose appetite to improve on the training ground has been noted at all of his clubs, made a lasting impression on goalkeeping coach and club legend Mick Kearns during a seven-game stint with the Saddlers.
“Sam was always a goalkeeper I thought needed a chance,” Kearns said. “The problem is when you are at a huge club like Manchester United, you don’t always get that chance and going out on loan gives you an opportunity to show what you can do.
“He had good all-round ability. If there was one thing he needed to work on it was his communication. He was only going to get that through experience. One of the reasons for that is that he was playing in games where there wouldn’t be a very big crowd.”
Johnstone had a difficult start to life at Villa Park but subsequent impressive form saw Bruce contact Jose Mourinho to iron out a deal which would prolong the custodian’s stay at B6 – but Premier League vultures Everton and Bournemouth continue to lurk.
Kearns added: “I think Sam’s a Premier League goalkeeper. Of that I’ve got no doubt.
“But he needs experience and he’s getting good experience at Aston Villa and he’s playing in a side which will give him confidence because they are winning matches.
“It doesn’t surprise me that Villa want to sign him because he good.”
Johnstone, 19 at the time of joining the Saddlers, kept three clean sheets in his seven matches with Walsall.
“He was a quiet lad and worked very, very hard at all of his goalkeeping sessions,” Kearns added. “Sometimes the goalkeepers are a little more extrovert, but that is not a necessity because, at the end of the day, keeping the ball out the back of the net is what matters.” is that