Sam: No.1 priority is promotion push
SAM Johnstone, quite understandably, just wants to be back playing in the Premier League.
The Albion goalkeeper has kept 11 clean sheets in 24 Championship matches this season but his future has come under the spotlight once more after the opening of the January transfer window.
England international Johnstone’s contract at The Hawthorns expires in the summer and he is highly unlikely to sign a new deal, despite attempts by the club to retain his services.
That has led to links with existing top-flight clubs, ahead of Johnstone becoming a free agent.
Scottish champions Rangers have also been credited with an interest but it appears Johnstone, who will miss Albion’s next two league games through suspension, is intent on returning to the Premier League, where he was one of the Baggies’ stand-out players in their relegation campaign.
Promotion with West Brom remains his target in the face of such speculation in the window.
“There was a lot of talk in the summer. It (a transfer) just didn’t happen and we are focused on doing our best to get promoted back up this year. That is the only aim,” said Johnstone.
“I see the speculation and there’s nothing I can do about it.
“It’s out of my control but I want to be back playing in the Premier League.”
Under Valerien Ismael, Johnstone has become more of a sweeper keeper. It has led to the odd error, such as in the win at Blackburn, but the head coach has previously explained how he accepts mistakes will be made when adopting such an approach.
Johnstone’s clean-sheet record, among the best in the EFL, can’t be sniffed at, though he has had to get used to another quite different way of playing, certainly in comparison to Ismael’s predecessors.
“I’ve experienced everything,’’ he reflected.
“Darren Moore and (his coach) Graeme Jones wanted us to play out from the back, and I think that made me a better keeper with my feet, and
Slaven Bilic was very good, very relaxed.
“We made our own decisions on the pitch.
“Big Sam came in and we went from one extreme to another but I thought he was great and would have kept us up if he’d had longer with us. I’m adaptable. We play a high line now.”
Johnstone is expected to stay at West Brom at least until the summer when his contract expires.
Despite rumours of a move this month, Ismael expects Johnstone to stay put and remain a key component of the club’s promotion push.
“At the minute I am pretty sure he will stay but you never know what can happen in football – if a keeper gets a big injury and a club needs to replace him you never know what the situation could be,” he said.
“But at the moment it’s not the plan for Sam to leave us. We want to have all the players. Now Sam needs a break and he has his break to reflect, come back stronger and help us in the season.”
Johnstone, who has played every league game this season apart from the opener at Bournemouth when there was uncertainty around his future following the club’s relegation and his participation in the Euros with England, will miss the next couple of games – against QPR and Peterborough – through suspension after being sent off against Cardiff.
David Button featured in the FA Cup defeat to Brighton and will continue between the sticks until Albion welcome Johnstone’s old club Preston to The Hawthorns, when he will be free to play again.
Ismael hopes this time away from match action will act as an opportunity for Johnstone to enter recovery mode after a testing few months.
“Now is the time for him to switch off,” he added.
“If you see all the training sessions and matches he had in the last six months, there were a lot of signs that Sam needed time now to breathe, to refresh and to reset and come back with big motivation and another big build-up in his preparation, so it could be a good situation for us.
“We have another very good keeper with David to play and it allows Sam to have a break, recharge and find himself back with his strength.”