Johnson may be back for Boro test

08 December 2009 09:42
GORDON Strachan is hoping Adam Johnson will be available for this evening's home game with Blackpool, but Caleb Folan's brief spell as a Middlesbrough player is over after the striker was sent back to Hull.[LNB] Even though his 93-day loan is not officially complete until December 19, Folan has returned to Humberside to round off his recovery from a hamstring injury.[LNB] The Republic of Ireland international managed just 58 minutes of playing time as a Boro player, during September's ill-fated 5-0 defeat to West Brom, but his departure has at least freed up a space in the squad ahead of the January transfer window.[LNB] Strachan is keen to make two or three permanent signings next month, and Folan's exit affords him increased room for manoeuvre as he eyes a number of targets that include Celtic defensive duo Gary Caldwell and Mark Wilson.[LNB] Johnson's long-term future will be a major talking point once the transfer window reopens, and after missing Saturday's 5-1 win at QPR because of a serious family illness, Boro's leading scorer is expected to be back in action when Blackpool visit the Riverside tonight.[LNB] Having been granted compassionate leave for the majority of last week, Johnson returned to training yesterday morning, and while Strachan intends to assess his mood ahead of today's game, the Easington-born winger is understood to be keen to be involved.[LNB] Adam trained (yesterday) morning and we'll have a chat to see how he feels, said the Boro boss, who watched Mark Yeates excel in a left-wing role at Loftus Road. Only he can tell you how he feels, but he trained with the rest of the lads and that's obviously good news.[LNB] We'll see how he enjoyed it and take things from there.[LNB] It's been a stressful week for him, that's for sure, so we'll work with him to see what he wants to happen.[LNB] Strachan was able to celebrate his first victory as Middlesbrough manager on Saturday night, but the Scotsman has been at pains to refute suggestions that his side's performance in west London was a marked contrast to some of their previous displays.[LNB] Having compared the statistics from Saturday's game to the facts and figures from last month's 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, Strachan was struck by just how little had changed.[LNB] I can give you the stats that show how similar the two games were, he said. We had nearly the same amount of passes and just about exactly the same number of shots. It's all the same.[LNB] They ran the same distances and had the same possession.[LNB] Everything was the same, except for the finishing, and that's the most important thing in football.[LNB] But for someone to say they tried harder in one game than another is a nonsense.[LNB] The only difference is that we took our chances.[LNB] By converting five of the opportunities that came their way at Loftus Road, Boro moved back into the play-off places for the first time since late October.[LNB] A win this evening could lift them as high as third, but in order to continue their climb up the table, the Teessiders will have to address a poor run that has seen them win just one of their last six matches on home soil.[LNB] It's not a great record, and we're not proud of it, said Strachan. The challenge now is to sort the home form out.[LNB] But there's no guarantee that, just because we scored five at the weekend, we're going to turn up and play as well again.[LNB] The players have to remember how hard it was to score five goals, what they had to do to stop the opposition, and the running they had to do to make sure the other team didn't get chances. If they remember that and take it into the Blackpool game, they'll have a chance of winning.[LNB] Boro (probable): Jones; Williams, St Ledger, Wheater, Pogatetz; Yeates, O'Neil, Osbourne, Johnson; Lita, Kitson.[LNB] Middlesbrough's reserve game at Rotherham, which was scheduled for tomorrow night, has been postponed.[LNB]

Source: Northern_Echo