Fit-again Johnson happy to play through pain barrier for Steelers

THE BODY may have been aching a touch more than usual yesterday morning for Sheffield Steelers’ defenceman Aaron Johnson – but it was all worth it.

In what has been one of the most frustrating seasons in his 18-year professional career, the 36-year-old has made just eight appearances under head coach Aaron Fox.

Two injuries to the same hand had kept Johnson on the sidelines for all but two games since mid-September before his return to the fray came in a commanding 5-1 victory over Glasgow Clan in the first leg of the Challenge Cup final at Braehead Arena.

All being well, Johnson is now around for the Elite League title run-in which has the Steelers in a three-way battle for the regular season title with Cardiff Devils and Belfast Giants.

“The body was a little sore after the Glasgow match, but it always takes a bit of time to get back up to game speed, but it was so nice just to be out there playing again,” said Johnson, who is also an assistant coach.

“It almost feels like four months that I’ve been off – I came back for a couple of games in November, but that doesn’t really help you in the long run, so it will definitely take a bit of time to get back to where I want to be.

“Any injury throughout the season is frustrating but then to go through it twice was tough mentally, but, fortunately, we have a good group of guys and great training and medical staff that kept things going the right way and continued to push me.”

Johnson’s return from injury is well-timed, coming ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Cardiff before hosting third-placed Belfast on Sunday (4pm face-off ).