Johnstone calling on Albion to keep heat cranked up
SAM Johnstone has instructed his Albion team-mates to simply worry about themselves as the Premier League turns for home.
The Baggies will undeniably need help along the way if they are to pull off the greatest of relegation escapes.
Sam Allardyce’s men are nine points adrift of safety with 21 left to fight for, though they do have a game in hand on Brighton and Burnley, who are in their sights on the other side of the dotted line. Albion travel to Leicester tonight (Thursday) and then Villa on Sunday.
“It’s a big seven days, but I’m confident we can continue our form and pick up more good results,” said Johnstone.
“We’ve just got to keep our focus on ourselves. There’s no point worrying about other teams or other results because we can’t have any impact on that.
“What we can have an impact on is our own performance and our own result and I’m hoping we can get two more wins this week.
“Our performances and results against the top teams in this division, especially away from home, have been good.
“There’s no reason why we can’t go there (Leicester) and get another positive result.
“The game against Aston Villa then comes around quickly. There’s not much recovery time between the Leicester game on the Thursday and then the Villa game on the Sunday, but it is what it is and we’ll give it our all.”
Albion, fresh from smacking Chelsea for five and then dismantling Southampton at The Hawthorns last week, have been champing at the bit to get back into the swing of things. Frustratingly for head coach Allardyce, the request to tackle Villa last weekend was turned down by the Premier League and they have had to bide their time as they seek a third win on the bounce.
The mood in camp, though, has been predictably buoyant. “Confidence is high because of the eight goals scored and six points secured, but it’s also high because we know we’ve been playing well for a while now and not just in the last two games,” Johnstone added.
“We’ve got another crucial week coming up.
“Every game means so much from now until the end of the season and we know every point or goal can have a big impact on the final outcome.” Meanwhile, Albion striker Kenneth Zohore is unlikely to play again this season, Millwall boss Gary Rowett has admitted.
The Danish forward left The Hawthorns for the New Den last summer
on loan, which initially ran until the January transfer window but was extended until the end of the campaign.
Zohore has struggled with injuries throughout his time with the Lions and has now been all but ruled out of participating in their run-in.
“Ken looks very unlikely he’s going to play much part moving forward into the last four games,” said Rowett.
There’s a big summer ahead for Zohore, who wasn’t given much of a
look-in in the short time he returned in January under Allardyce.
The former Cardiff striker still has two years left to run on the four-year deal he signed when he left the Bluebirds for The Hawthorns in the summer of 2019.
The £8 million agreement hasn’t brought any success of note, however, and discussions are expected to take place upon his return as to what role he has, if any, in the squad ahead of next term.