Mick wants hot reception for Roger Johnson
Friday 26th August 2011, 11:30AM BST.
Mick McCarthy today handed Villa fans an open invitation to give Roger Johnson some stick in tomorrow’s derby at Villa Park – because he believes it will make the Wolves captain play better.
The £4.5m former Birmingham defender is ready for a hostile reception at the home of his former arch-rivals tomorrow lunch-time.
Johnson was fined £7,500 for branding referee Martin Atkinson “a disgrace” in April 2010 after conceding a controversial late penalty that led to a 1-0 Second City derby win for Villa.
Asked if Johnson was ready for his ‘welcome’, McCarthy said: “I sincerely hope so.
“You want them giving you stick because when they are, it’s generally because they don’t like you as you’re a good player.
“I think they’ll all have gone soft if they don’t give him some stick. That will just make him play better.”
Meanwhile, McCarthy admitted Sylvan Ebanks-Blake could be out for six weeks with medial knee ligament damage.
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