Saturday’s well-deserved victory over Wigan at Craven Cottage was made all the more positive after Andrew Johnson’s late appearance as a substitute. The striker who has endured a lengthy period out on the sidelines continued his return to full match fitness with an energetic showing in the closing stages of the game.
“It’s been such a long time, I’m just delighted to get some game time,” Johnson said after the game. “I had 30 minutes last week and another 15 minutes this week but it wasn’t really about me, it was about the team. We got a great result and it was an important three points for us.
“I’d like to say thank you so much to the fans. I thought they were absolutely fantastic; to come back to a set of fans like that is amazing. It sent a shiver down my spine and I just need to get match fit now and give them back what they gave me.
“The fans have been fantastic, I’ve had some great letters sent to me. It’s been a tough time, I’m not going to lie, I was down for a long time but you see the rewards when you come back out and see the fans.
“I was out from the middle of January so it’s been nearly ten months, I was also out for three months before that with a groin problem, so it’s pretty much been a 13 month lay-off. It’s been very frustrating and hard but I’ve got a great family around me, a great set of lads and the medical staff here kept me on my toes and working hard.
“I’ve been injury free pretty much most of my career. Any injuries I had I sorted out in the off-season. I’ve been very lucky throughout my career and never missed anything more than three months when I was 17.”
Plenty has changed at the Club since Johnson last played a full 90 minutes, with a new Manager, new style of play and new players. And as AJ explained, he’s enjoying every moment of training and playing in a new environment.
“I wasn’t really around too much when we changed manager because it was over the summer,” he said. “I didn’t really see the manager for the first part of the season because I spent so much time in the gym. But of course, any player who gets a new boss is eager to prove what they can do. He’s put me on in games and all I can do is keep working hard.
“He’s been absolutely fantastic, he’s not rushed me one bit, he said, ‘take your time, the last thing we want is you to come back and have a setback.’ He’s been very understanding and mindful of the fact that I can’t rush it because I rushed my last two injuries.
“The training has been brilliant, it’s really helped me get fit quicker because the intensity’s been upped a lot. I just look forward to every day, training and getting fitter. Hopefully in three or four week’s time you’ll see me fully match fit and back to how I was.
“We’d had some great additions to the squad. I think Mousa has been absolutely fantastic and obviously Zoltan Gera, who played a massive part last year, has been fantastic as well. Carlos is a top class left-back, he isn’t scared of getting forward and when he gets there he puts in a great ball.
“The Manager’s put a massive emphasis on how he wants us to play. He wants us to press high, get in people’s faces and stop other teams from pressing and I think we showed that in the first-half on Saturday.
“We didn’t give them a minute to play football, but when we got the ball we were relaxed and played some great stuff – probably some of the best football I’ve seen since I’ve been at the Club. We killed the game off in the second-half, settled down and didn’t let them get back into the game.
“It was a massive win for us. I wouldn’t say we’ve been playing badly; we’ve just had a little bit of bad luck with injuries, offside decisions and stuff like that. So it was massive for us to get three points and get us back on the winning streak.”