Daniel Johnson described picking up two awards at the end of the campaign as an honour, after being named Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year.
Having been selected as the standout player by both the fans and his teammates, DJ heaped praise on his teammates, the manager and the backroom staff for their role in his impressive form this season.
Speaking to iFollow PNE after being presented with the award at Springfields ahead of the final game of the season, the 27-year-old said: “It’s an honour to be Player of the Year, it’s a long season and I’ve had to come over a lot of obstacles through this season, a few setbacks.
“I would like to thank my teammates because obviously without them it wouldn’t have been possible, they have allowed me to play as free as I have and to enjoy my football this year.
"I would like to thank the manager as well for trusting me and picking me regularly and I just want to thank everyone through to the fitness coach, physio and the analysts. I think it has been a really good season for us as a collective and obviously on a personal level it’s been a good season for me.
"The manager has given me the freedom and the license to be that extra link and be the player that doesn’t have to necessarily stick to that one position, he’s given me the freedom to just go out play and be confident and so have the lads. They have really contributed to me winning this award as well, like I said I have had a few setbacks this year, so the fitness coach and the physios have been a massive part of this too."
On the Players’ Player of the Year award, he continued: “You can clearly see that in this team, Alan has won it, Davo won it and I think it’s just appreciation of each other and realising and understanding when someone has had a really good season. I can’t thank them enough, they have been a massive part of my progress this year and my development."
Johnson topped off a memorable campaign by leading out the team for our penultimate home game against Nottingham Forest, something that will live long in his memory.
“All of these things are an honour, it’s brilliant for me to be able to captain this club in a competitive Championship game, that was an unbelievable feeling for me.
“Everything that we’ve done, both myself and my teammates this year, we’ve come together as a collective and we’ve done it together."
Despite picking up two awards, our leading goalscorer admits a place in the Play-Offs would have been the perfect finish to the campaign but insists the squad will be ready to go again after a short break.
“On a personal level it’s great but it would have been nice if we could have got into those Play-Offs and see what happened from there.
“It would have been the cherry on the top to get in those Play-Off positions and have a go at it but unfortunately for us that didn’t happen this year, we will take all the positives from this season, dust ourselves down, have a little break after Wednesday and get ready to go again.”
Watch the full interview with DJ by clicking on the video at the top of the page.