West Brom winger Mikey Johnston, borrowed on a loan transfer from Celtic, has been a revelation at The Hawthorns since January.
Jed Wallace believes that Mikey Johnston, the attacking counterpart of West Bromwich Albion, is now the finest player in the Championship because of his explosive play at The Hawthorns since joining on loan from Scottish champions Celtic in January. Since coming into the lineup, Carlos Corberan’s left winger, Johnston, has been brilliant.
He has six goals in seven starts. On Saturday, he contributed to both of Albion’s goals in their 2-0 victory over Bristol City, as Wallace and Tom Fellows scored goals just after halftime to extend the Baggies’ winning streak. A week ago, Johnston scored two goals in the crushing defeat of Huddersfield Town. Since then, he has made it a habit to cut inside and surprise the opposition goalie.
After an otherwise unpredictable winter, Albion’s form has greatly contributed to the team’s ability to stay in the play-off race. After Jeremy Sarmiento’s loan was terminated, the addition of Johnston and Fellows’ advancement has put Albion in a much better position than they were before. Wallace has noticed a noticeable increase in confidence in his new surroundings and has been deeply impressed by the impact of the Irish international.
The way he’s playing right now, in my opinion, makes him the best player in the league. “Maybe I should have played you in on one of them,” he actually remarked to me following the QPR game. I said, ‘The way you’re playing, just kick it towards the goal and we’ll go from there!'” He’s burning right now. Jonno has performed admirably, and I’m glad for him.
“It’s wonderful to see somebody venture outside of their comfort zone and come here and do well, especially when you’re at a huge club like Celtic and people there might not trust in him as much as he would like. That was what we required in January. All three of them, in their own unique ways. Even Cal, who I know hasn’t played much football, has incredible energy and passion, which he uses to pull people along during training. Andi has scored a couple of huge goals for us.
“You have to believe what Carlos is doing because he knows it’s a 95-minute game of football, and you’ve seen our goals off the bench, which can make a difference with the squad and substitutes we can bring on,” the player said. “January additions have given us real energy, and now we have Matty and Josh to come back into it as well.”
In terms of his own fitness levels, Johnston also showed a big improvement on Saturday. He finished his debut game for Albion against the Robins, despite not having played 90 minutes in a competitive encounter since his loan spell with Portuguese team Vitoria Guimaraes in May. That could serve him especially well for the rest of the season as Albion looks to secure a spot in the play-offs.
