JOHNSON’S HAPPY FOR TELLY BREAK
ANTHONY JOHNSON admits he was not surprised Salford City’s game at Darlington was postponed – and the joint-boss reckons it could be a blessing in disguise for the National League North leaders.
The Ammies won’t be in action again until December 23 having been knocked out of the FA Trophy which takes place this weekend.
While their game against Darlo was off, unsurprisingly their Christmas night out in Newcastle on Saturday still went ahead, a deserved respite from an excellent start, that sees them eight points clear at the top.
“When you’re on a good run of form, you want to keep playing games and winning,” Johnson told
The NLP. “We’ve won seven in a row in the league so it’s frustrating that the game was off but I’m not surprised having looked at the weather forecast in the days leading up.
“Our Christmas-do in Newcastle is nice reward for our hard work so far. We’ve got another two weeks of training and preparation now ahead of going to Spennymoor. We’ve then got the derby games against FC United on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day which will be tough.
“It’s good to have this little break ahead of those after the start that we’ve had.”
Johnson knows there won’t be any let up to Salford’s training after the club moved to a full-time setup in July.
Co-bosses Bernard Morley and Johnson signed new contracts confirming the change towards the end of last season while Sky Sports cameras filmed the decision making process and Salford’s dramatic end to the season.
Owners Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Phil and Gary Neville,
inset, all feature in the flyon-the-wall documentary called Class Of ’92 Full Time which will be aired tonight at 10pm.
Salford were previously the subject of a two-part series on the BBC documenting the club’s recent takeover and successive promotions.
Johnson said: “I haven’t seen it, only the trailers and little bits that they have put out. I know what was filmed so there won’t be any surprises, but there’s always few things you cringe at – although that’s the nature of the programme. We knew what we signed up for.
“You get used to the cameras being around. When you’re having a rant and then you turn round and a camera is right by your face, it is frustrating, but again, that’s the nature of it.
“We’ve had a season in this division now and we’re definitely better for it. We know what it’s about and all the teams we come up against. Making this step to fulltime is a big one and had we been promoted last season it might have been too soon.”
Brackley Town were only able to trim Salford’s lead by one point yesterday as they drew at an FC United of Manchester revived under new boss Tom Greaves.