Close-season recruit Chiori Johnson gives an insight into the drive for success at Plainmoor.
It’s a measure of the ambitions of Gary Johnson’s squad, that far from congratulating themselves on a scarcely-believable fightback at Chesterfield last weekend, instead the players took some time to reflect on what might have been.
“We’re quite confident as a group, so we definitely see it as two points dropped,” began Chiori.
“I know they were top of the league, but I think anyone can beat anyone in this league, and we were a little bit disappointed with our performance. The way it went, we were happy to come away with a point, we definitely raised it in the last 10 minutes, and I think the lads showed a lot of fight and hunger, and they got the two goals they needed.”
Whilst respecting the efforts of his teammates in grabbing that late leveller at the Technique Stadium, United’s summer addition is no doubt where the Club’s ambitions lie this season.
“When I came in, the Gaffer was saying what he wanted to do this season. All the boys believe we can do it, and I believe we can do it.
“We’ve obviously got four points in the last two games, it’s alright, but we see this a point were we can kick on. We want to get as many points as possible this season of course, and we think we’ve started that kind of rise, and are starting to turn the games around.
“We’re not looking too much at the league table at the moment, it’s very early days, but if every week we keep racking up the points, things can change very quickly.
As for his own campaign so far, eight games in, and Johnson – the player – is clearly savouring the opportunity of first-team football, following the frustration caused by the early curtailment of 2020/21.
“I love it, the boys have made me feel very welcome. They’ve been great to me, and I’m just really enjoying playing football again.”