Mikey Johnston revealed he was playing through the pain barrier towards the end of the season for West Brom last term.
Speaking to the Express and Star (12 September), Johnston said he had a hamstring issue as the Baggies reached last season’s Championship play-offs.
The 25-year-old has since joined on a permanent four-year deal from Celtic and the popular winger is eager to kick-on after impressing during an initial loan spell last term.
“I want to hit the ground running again. I feel like I improved a lot under the manager straight away and was getting better and better,” he said.
“Physically I feel even better than I have for a couple of years. I feel I can kick on again and be an even better player.
“I’m ready to go now. I had a little bit of a hamstring pain at the end of the season. But I was trying to get into the Premier League so I was going to play through anything at that point.
“I’ve learned so much in four months, so four years from now, how much am I going to have learned?”
Mikey Johnston can be among the league’s best for West Brom
After joining the club for £3million, Johnston has bolstered an already exciting attack, and is undoubtedly a hugely popular signing at The Hawthorns.
The Irishman joins Tom Fellows, Grady Diangana, and Jed Wallace as out-and-out wingers for Corberan’s promotion-pushing side, meaning the Spaniard has great options out wide when everyone is fit.
With 10 points from a possible 12 in the league so far, the Baggies look primed and ready to launch another promotion tilt, which Johnston will hope to spearhead.
Albion’s new man averages a whopping 5.13 progressive carries per 90 minutes, according to FBRef, which was in the top five per cent of wingers in the Championship last season.
His ability to carry the ball towards goal will give the Baggies a huge boost to an already promising start to the new campaign, a move that should give the Spanish manager some extra firepower to help reach the promised land.
