Finger flickin’ good

Lee Johnson

ATHLETIC have made a brand new low-cost signing ahead of tomorrow’s big FA Cup first-round tie at home to Wolves . . . a Subbuteo set.

Lee Johnson says the £30 hit taken on acquiring the old-fashioned game will more than pay for itself.

And that isn’t because the manager fancies himself coming out on top in a flick-around with the rest of the staff and squad at Boundary Park.

In fact, Johnson (pictured above) says the purchase was made with only a serious purpose in mind.

That is, to provide a visual coaching aid to help talented but inexperienced striker Jonson Clarke-Harris to improve.

“Jonno doesn’t know about the movements and runs, and shoulder positions in particular,” said Johnson, who held a half-hour personal tutorial with Clarke-Harris yesterday.

“You can use a tactics board. And we work on it on the training ground as well.

“But with this, we can use it to help a player get better. Jonno has just turned 19. The kid hasn’t really been coached properly.

“So any way of getting it into his head and fast-forwarding that process is an added tool.

“People may say ‘what are they doing playing Subbuteo’.

“But that isn’t what we are doing. When you sit here and think about it properly, it makes sense to use this to help him understand his role better within the team.”

Clarke-Harris is unlikely to get a full run-out under his belt tomorrow, with Johnson making clear that his build and fitness levels mark him out as a special case.

“His fitness is never going to be at a point where he can go for 90 minutes for three games in a week,” Johnson added. “That is just a pure fact.

“He has a sprinter’s build, powerful. Last week, I told him to do next to nothing in the warm up. We didn’t want him burning out his sprints before the game.

“You have to think about all those little things.”
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