We’ve all heard the song, it’s no secret what Daniel Johnson cost North End last January transfer window.
And the midfield man spoke to The One And Only to reflect upon his first year at Deepdale.
When North End’s interest in the now No.11 came into the public domain last January fans seemed pretty pleased.
The former Villa man had pulled the strings for Chesterfield in their comeback at Deepdale and Lilywhites supporters were hoping to see more of the same; they probably didn’t expect quite the impact that he has had.
The Kingston-born player has 15 goals in 44 appearances in 2015 in a North End shirt [at the time of writing], just better than a one in three ratio – more than impressive for a midfielder.
His wand of a left foot has scored some memorable efforts in that 15 goals – in fact you’d struggle to find a goal amongst them that wasn’t amongst some of the best scored this year and when he spoke to the matchday programme at the Springfields training ground he admitted that it has been a positive year since his move from Villa Park.
“When I first came to the Club the aim was to get promoted,” the 23-year-old told the matchday programme. “I spoke to the manager and the assistant and they had really high hopes and good things to say about this Club. They told me the aim was to get promoted and half way through the season for me to join such a big club and for them to put so much belief in me to put me in the team for everything that I have done I would like to thank them.
“They put a lot of faith in me. I have really enjoyed it; it has been really good and half way through this season we have done well. We have been picking up a lot of points in the last couple of months. It has been a fantastic start for us and we have a lot more to give, so I think it is only going to get better for us.
“It is always good when you hear the fans singing your name as well. You know they are cheering for you and they get right behind you, but it’s not just about me, we have a team and a manager who they are right behind and that has been a positive for us.
“I would like to give a big thank you to the fans as well, because without them we wouldn’t have achieved any success. They stuck through us during the bad times and stuck by me, the team and the manager, which has been really good.”
You can read a lot more from DJ plus interviews with Adam Reach, Calum Woods, Paul Gallagher, Jordan Pickford and Chris Humphrey in our final edition in a promotion year. On sale from the Club shop from Monday morning, plus in and around the ground – 84 pages for just £3.