Fit-again Danny Johnson faces battle to win back Mansfield Town shirt

Fit-again Mansfield Town forward Danny Johnson now faces a battle to win back his first team place.
Danny Johnson of Mansfield Town in action.Danny Johnson of Mansfield Town in action.
Danny Johnson of Mansfield Town in action.

Johnson was sidelined with injury for two months but returned to the bench on Saturday and was unlucky to have a goal disallowed for a contentious offside.

But Clough said Johnson's instinctive finish was his forte.

“The goal he scored that was chalked off – that's a Danny Johnson goal,” he said.

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“He's in there for the rebound and tapping it in from a yard. You need someone like that in your squad.

“I though he was onside. It was so close. When they give those they are usually a yard or two.

“But I saw the reaction of the Middlesbrough goalkeeper and defender and no one appealed for offside. They didn't think it was. It may have influenced the result of the game, we don't know.”

He added: “Danny's challenge now is to get in the team.

“He's been out for eight weeks and has only had 45 minutes in the friendly at Derby and then half an hour or so on Saturday and Tuesday.

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“So it's going to be a building-up process for him over the next few weeks of getting that sharpness and that fitness back.

“He knows as well as anyone when the strikers are playing and scoring, he has got to work hard to get back into the team.

Rhys Oates and Jordan Bowery are doing well at the moment.

“But it's brilliant to have Danny back on the pitch.”