Express & Star

Connor Johnson knows Walsall loan will be a tough test

Connor Johnson knows his first taste of professional senior football will be a steep learning curve.

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The 20-year-old defender was playing football at step six of the English football pyramid with AFC Telford United last season but was given a show of faith by Walsall boss Dean Keates, who has brought him to the Banks’s Stadium on a season-long loan.

He is yet to play for Keates’s high-flying Saddlers in the league, but made his Walsall bow in the 2-1 Checkatrade Trophy success at Burton Albion.

“It will be a lot different here than it is with the under-23s,” said Johnson, who joined Walsall alongside Wolves team-mate Connor Ronan.

“It is a test I am excited about, when I am called upon, if I am called upon.

“It is a lot more physical, even from playing in the Checkatrade Trophy game against Burton Albion. There is a lot more running, there is more demand from you as a player.”

Johnson explained that Keates is an advocate of the defender’s style of bringing the ball out from the back with his feet.

But he knows, thanks to experience while with Telford last season, that his game will require fine-tuning if he is to settle and succeed in the third tier.

“In the 23s you can sit back and play a little bit as you can have the ball in front of you but here it is more physically demanding because you are playing against men, they’re stronger players,” he added.

“I have to learn how to play in different ways which will be good for me.

“I was in a group at Wolves where they were looking to get me out on loan. I wasn’t with the under-23s and I wasn’t with the first team.

“I was in the middle. It’s good to come out and be part of a first-team because it’s very different.

“That (Telford loan) toughened me up a little bit and I think being here will toughen me up even more.

“Telford was a great learning curve. Before I went there I thought you could pass all the time and just step out of defence with the ball.

“That is what it is like in the under-23s, so it was a shock to the system. You have to be smart when you play.”

Johnson believes the loan will play a significant part in his development and regular football in League One will help him progress.

The defender continued: “It’s massive for me to know I’ve got a good chance of being involved in the first-team squad every weekend.

“I can only get better and improve with that experience. It’s exciting times just to be a part of it.”