Sam Johnstone has now admitted that he trained so vigorously at Crystal Palace that he picked up an injury.
The £43,000-a-week man made the revelation when speaking to the BBC.
So, what did Sam Johnstone say? Let’s take a look…
What’s the story?
Well, the England international opened up on the challenges he faced during the 2022/23 campaign, in which he acted as No.2 behind Vicente Guaita for most of the season.
Johnstone said: “That was tough. It is the first time in a seven or eight year period that it had happened to me. Unfortunately I had a few injuries and broke up my rhythm a little bit. That was hard to deal with.
“It was tough but every day I was training I tried my best. I was doing extra and probably ended up doing too much and got injured. I had to manage that as well. I was going to the gym in the morning, then I’d have breakfast, then gym before training, train and gym afterwards. Then you’d break down which I think my body wasn’t used to as I was used to playing. It was tough.”
Despite a turbulent 2022/23 campaign, Johnstone has emerged from it superbly.
Crystal Palace have a diamond in Sam Johnstone
The Crystal Palace No.1 currently boasts the most clean sheets in the Premier League with four shutouts in eight appearances so far.
Johnstone was also handed a start by Gareth Southgate in England’s 1-0 win over Australia last week as reward for his excellent start to the season.
Hopefully, the 30-year-old’s injury problems are now behind him, and he can continue to shine in between the sticks under Roy Hodgson.
If a setback does occur later on this season, then we at least have the £20m Dean Henderson to step in once he regains full fitness – despite weaknesses in other areas, the goalkeeping department at Selhurst Park is in top shape.
