Ryan Johnson returned to our defence on Good Friday after a lengthy injury lay-off and the popular centre-back already has his next target in mind.
It had been over two months since “Johnno” was ruled out with an ankle injury, but he came through a 90-minute workout in our 1-1 draw with Harrogate, before we head to the League Two leaders and his previous club Stockport on Easter Monday.
“It’ll be nice to see a few familiar faces, but I’m there to win,” said Ryan having fully recovered. “It’ll be a massive game for us, so hopefully we come away with the three points and carry on moving up the table.”
You can listen to everything Ryan had to say below.
After completing his 33rd appearance for the Dons, Ryan said: “I’m feeling not too bad. I had to get the rust out of my system for the first twenty minutes, as I thought everyone could have probably seen, but it’s amazing to be back out there.
“I’m just gutted that we couldn’t get the win in the end, but the lads gave it everything they’ve got.
“We said in the dressing room after Harrogate that we’ve got five games to go, so anything can happen. We’ve just got to keep our minds on it and our bodies right and we’ll be ready.
“I’ve seen a few other results went in our favour, which is sometimes what you need. We’ve just got to focus on ourselves and as clichéd as it sounds – take every game as it comes. That’s how important it is.
“We go to Stockport on Monday and hopefully we bring the three points back with us.”
Joe Lewis, his partner at the back for most of the season, got on for a few minutes at the end. The Bank Holiday fixture will also mark his return to Edgeley Park, since making his move to the Dons permanent in January.
“He had a little cameo towards the end and nearly got a goal as well, by getting on the end of a cross,” said Ryan. “It was good to have him back and going into the last few games we need everybody fit and ready.
“Hopefully, with Armani Little coming back in the not-too-distant future, we’ll be good to go.”
Ryan also gave his view on the sending off of Ronan Curtis, after he’d scored our equaliser and his fourth goal for the Dons since also joining us in the last transfer window.
“I didn’t see much of it, actually,” said Ryan. “I know that everyone around the ground, including me, was super surprised at seeing the red card shown. Those kind of decisions change games. I actually think we reacted well, and we finished the game on the front foot and on top.
“Ronan comes up with those big goals for us. It was a good finish and he’s got that composure around the box. We’re happy to have him here and that was a good moment for us.”
Photos: Ian Stephen and Pro Sports Images.
