Johnson confident over striker’s future

ATHLETIC manager Lee Johnson says the club has fielded only one phone call about Jonson Clarke-Harris - and expects the striker to stay at Boundary Park.

“We have had one half-enquiry; that’s all,” Johnson said. “I don’t expect anything to come of it in the near future.”

Visiting scouts have been impressed with young player-of-the-year Clarke-Harris, who scored eight times in his first season, including twice at Bradford.

Wolves are believed to have shown some interest, while a report in the national press yesterday linked newly-promoted Rotherham with a swoop for the 19 year old, claiming Athletic is asking £400,000.

Used in the final 10 games of the season as a lone forward, Clarke-Harris appears to have found a club he can call home, with a nomadic career having taken him from Coventry to Peterborough and then Boundary Park via loan with Southend and Bury.

The Leicester-born player signed an improved contract in February that runs until the end of the 2014-15 season with the option of an extra year.

Johnson has stressed that the lack of signings so far betrays hard work behind the scenes, with high wage demands at this early stage of the summer preventing quick deals.



GENSERIC Kusunga was an unused substitute for Angola as Iran rescued a 1-1 draw in Hartberg, Austria.

The Athletic defender, who hasn’t turned out in a competitive game since mid-February due to suspension and injuries, maintained a watching brief in a warm-up match ahead of Iran’s arrival in Brazil for the World Cup.

Domingos Silva opened the scoring for Angola before Carlos Queiroz’s side levelled through Karim Ansarifard.

Kusunga had a 12-month option taken up on his existing contract by Lee Johnson last month, a move Athletic’s manager admitted was a “risky” one given his recent injuries record.