Ryan Mason's biggest decision as £3m attacker stakes his West Brom claim after Wrexham win

Express & Star

Jonny Drury and Lewis Cox discuss what could be a big decision for Ryan Mason ahead of Albion's clash with Portsmouth on Saturday. Mason has opted for a pretty settled side in the opening two games - with only one change coming at the back with George Campbell replacing the departed Torbjorn Heggem. Now Albion face Pompey on Saturday and Mason is facing a big decision out wide as Mikey Johnston staked his claim for a recall. Johnston has an unused substitute in the win over Blackburn - before coming on to set up two goals in the win over Wrexham. Lewis and Jonny look at whether Johnston has done enough to return and whether Mason will opt for him over Karlan Grant.

Transcript

00:00I want to talk more about the man who set the goal up and the man who set up the third goal

00:03as well. Michael Johnson found himself on a bench again. Carlin Grant was decent on the opening day

00:08of the season. We talked about maybe why Ryan Mason has swayed in that direction, you know,

00:13in terms of defensively, Grant's work rate and, you know, maybe you lose a bit of attack and

00:18flair. I think it's safe to say you do for that defensive work. Two assists from Johnson on

00:24Saturday. There's not really much more we can do now to knock on the door, is there?

00:27No, no, I think, you know, I think you're right. And I think most would agree,

00:32Johnny. And it's no slight on Grant, really. It's just, I think, you know, I've said it all summer,

00:37to be honest, ever since I saw him in Austria, Johnson looked to me like he had a bit between

00:40his teeth after what happened with him potentially moving away and that breaking down. I know you

00:47just left the race course, ironically, but goals two and three from Wallace and Price

00:53were scored down our end, the kind of end that the Albion fans weren't. The Albion fans were down

00:59the other end, obviously, and Albion attacking more towards the end where we were in the press

01:03box in the second half. So, and also, both the goals came from the left, which was our side where

01:08the press box was. And what I mean is I had a fantastic view of kind of the players celebrating,

01:14the goal scorers celebrating, you know, Jed Wallace to his knees, sort of right in front of the press box.

01:18Mikey Johnson, in both cases, certainly the third goal delivered from that left, you know,

01:23right by the cross we were sitting. And it was fascinating watching the celebrations, because

01:28in both cases, players reacted. I mean, Jed Wallace couldn't be more popular, you know,

01:35in the dressing room and at the club, certainly internally. So the celebration with him was meaningful

01:41and it meant a lot to him. You could see that, you know, and he scored once last season.

01:44But also when Johnson, not so much the first, but when he put in the delivery for the second goal,

01:50not saying that people didn't want to celebrate with Isaac Price, because, you know, he's clearly

01:54a very talented and popular lad. But there was a lot of, there's a real mob for Johnson, really.

02:00And he gave it some beans, to be honest, Johnson, after that cross for Price to make it three.

02:06He really put a lot into his celebration, Johnson, just like sort of letting his emotion out.

02:12I imagine he's had a tough summer, really. And, you know, sort of thinking you'd be out the door,

02:18the club think you're out the door, coming back in, trying to make an impression on a new head

02:22coach. Clearly, the way it's gone in the friendlies to start the game, he's got to play second fiddle

02:26in that position. And that's fine. You know, it's obviously Mason's prerogative and you think they're

02:34clearly very different options in that position. But I think, you know, the thing that could be

02:39labelled at Johnson really clearly last season and Ryan Mason touched on it in one of his first

02:43interviews to me actually was productivity. You know, what's he doing for goals and assists last

02:48season? Well, absolutely nowhere near enough. You know, and we're speaking as fans of Mikey Johnson,

02:54aren't we? But what he came on and did on Saturday for him is huge. You know, absolutely huge to start

03:01the season like that with a couple of assists from the bench. And yeah, if we're talking about Pompey later in

03:06the pod and we're thinking about changes, we mentioned Collier coming into midfield or not.

03:11If I was picking my team and naming my team for Pompey, I'd have Mikey Johnson on the left after

03:15that cameo. I struggle to see how you can bring him in really. And nothing against Pompey. Not, you

03:22know, not been really tracking their results so far this season yet. But, you know, Portsmouth at home

03:28is a home game you're expected to win and create, isn't it? You know, look at last season under

03:32Mowbrick. That was the game of Mowbrick's short second spell, wasn't it? And yeah, if I were Johnson,

03:40I'd be, you know, hoping to get the nods out of it.

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