West Brom are in safe hands with Sam Johnstone says Jonathan Greening

The Baggies currently sit second in the Championship table and – along with Leeds – are the bookmaker's favourites to win promotion when football returns following the coronavirus outbreak.

Johnstone has kept 10 clean sheets for Slaven Bilic's side this season and has also made a string of spectacular stops.

But while he is popular with the majority of fans, there are still some supporters he is yet to win over – with Greening believing that might be down to him having previously been at Villa on loan.

"I am always defending Sam on Twitter because I think he is a top keeper," said Greening who was an integral part of the Albion side that won the Championship in 2008.

"He is a great shot-stopper, a good communicator and his distribution with his feet is very good.

"But the big thing for me is that he doesn't make many mistakes.

"Even the top keepers in the world have shown they have an error in them. Both David de Gea and Ederson have made high profile mistakes this year.

"But Sam is very consistent. And there have been plenty of games this season when he hasn't had a lot to do – but when he is needed he produces the goods.

"I know there are some fans who say negative things. But for me he is terrific, I do wonder if that negativity stems from the fact he had that loan spell at Villa."

Greening is confident Albion will go on to win promotion to the Premier League when football does return – with his optimism stemming from the fact the team has a strong spine.

"You've got Sam who is a terrific keeper and then you have got Kyle (Bartley), Semi (Ajayi) and Ahmed (Hegazi) all competing in that centre-back position," the 41-year-old continued.

"It's then Jake Livermore and Romaine Sawyers in front of them and Hal Robson-Kanu up front who has been on fire.

"You've even got Charlie Austin to come off the bench.

"When you look at that spine and sprinkle in the creative players around it – it's a very good team.

"There is also a strong team spirit there so when football does resume they should get the job done and get up."