Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WINDSOR IS BEHIND OUR TITLE HUNT
Goalkeeper Chris says home form has been the key to another Championship challenge
LINFIELD goalkeeper Chris Johns is eager to build on the champions’ buoyant home form as the race for title honours gathers pace.
David Healy’s Blues have taken an impressive 41 points from a possible 48 and lost just one of 16 league outings at Windsor Park this season.
Their only loss was a painful one at the hands of derby rivals Glentoran in February when a late Conor Mcmenamin goal eked out a 1-0 win for the visitors.
But Johns, who joined the club from Coleraine last summer, hopes it was little more than a blip as the champions bid to add another W to the Windsor column against Ballymena United.
“Before joining Linfield, I knew from experience as a player that it’s always a big task playing at Windsor Park – everyone knows that,” he said.
“Our home form has been good and hopefully we can keep Windsor as a fortress, although we know it will be another tough test against Ballymena.
“They have some excellent players and their manager always has them highly motivated. We also lost at their place last month, but hopefully we can put that right at home.”
Since their last defeat – to the Glens at The Oval on February 23 – the Blues have won eight and drawn one of their last 10 league games, their only defeat coming at Ballymena a month ago.
“We’ve done well this season in terms of getting over defeats and because of the schedule this season, there always seemed to be another game coming three days later,” said Johns.
“It gave you a chance to get back on the horse quite quickly. A lot of the players here have also won league titles in the past and they know how to bounce back.
“It’s great to be part of a team that can do that. I’m chasing my first league title as a Linfield player and hopefully we can get this one over the line although there’s a long way to go.
“We have a tough run of games down the stretch, so it’s definitely still all to play for.”
Linfield needed a late Andy Waterworth equaliser and a stunning one handed save from Johns to salvage a 1-1 share of the spoils at Larne last weekend.
“Larne are excellent at home, play some really good stuff and create overloads all over the pitch, so it was a very tough game,” said Johns.
“It was a great header from Andy and a poacher’s finish, but that’s Andy all over.”
On his last gasp save to deny Larne’s Fuad Sule a rifled winner, Johns said modestly: “You get those every so often. You react and it goes for you. I’m glad it went for me.”