In this weekend’s 100 page edition of the matchday programme, our main interview is with the man who celebrated his return to the side in style last weekend, Daniel Johnson.
2017 has been a year of new experiences for DJ. The North End midfielder became a father and experienced being at a club where the manager has changed for the first time – both life changing events in the life of a footballer!
The One And Only sat down with the No.11 at Springfields this week to talk about these events, amongst others, and asked what had changed since the new arrival? The manager, not his daughter that is…
“With the new manager coming in, we have a different style of play,” said the 24-year-old. “You can see that the boys have a lot more belief and a lot more confidence.
“I definitely think it comes down to the style of play of the new manager and how he wants us to play and press and stuff like that. It really does just come down to that and the boys having more belief that we can push on and that we can go and get in that top six.
“He gives us the license to not do as we want, but to really express ourselves and obviously that’s what every player needs and every player wants. For me it’s been good and I’ve really enjoyed it, as a whole, as a team, we’ve really adapted to a lot of things and the manager has taught us a lot of things. We’ve got to grips with it really quickly and we’ve been able to execute it.
“With the new manager coming in you never really know what’s going to happen, he might come in and not fancy you. There would be people talking, but for us, we just got on with it – at the time we just thought whatever happens, happens. He’s come in and he’s made a massive difference, all the boys are happy and we’re really pleased at the start we made and push on now.
“You can see from the last couple of games we’ve had a few injuries and people have been called upon to do a job for the team and they haven’t disappointed. Even going off the last home game [against Cardiff] - the likes of Welshy that had been out for so long – he came in and I thought he did fantastic. Everyone’s just go to be ready, because you never know when you’re going to be called upon, we’ve done really well so far, hopefully we can continue.
“This season we’ve been on the front foot from the very start and we’ve been able to pick up some good points.
“Even on the road – away to Middlesbrough for example – being able to go there and get something was really important and I back us against anyone at home.
“We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing and see where that gets us.”
There’s loads more from the No.11 in The One And Only, plus we have interviews and features with Tom Barkhuizen, Ben Davies, Paul Huntington, Steve Wilkes and more, all still for just £3.
You will be able to purchase your copy from the ticket office from Friday afternoon and from our sellers on matchday, inside and outside the stadium, so don’t miss out on your copy.