Punished For Not Taking Chances – Johnson

Returning full back reacts to Bournemouth defeat . GLEN JOHNSON believes Stoke City created more than enough chances to beat Bournemouth and on another day could have easily collected all three points.

Nathan Ake’s first half header proved to be enough for the Cherries to capture a 1-0 victory despite a flurry of opportunities at the opposite end of the field.

Whilst Ryan Shawcross had a header cleared off the line and Wilfried Bony, Xherdan Shaqiri and Jonathan Walters all having decent opportunities to get their names on the scoresheet, the afternoon’s mood of frustration was summed up with a rare penalty miss for Bojan as Eddie Howe’s outfit held on for a first victory in the Potteries since 1991.

“Of course he’ll be disappointed but he’s our penalty taker for a reason and he’s more than capable of scoring,” Johnson said.

“He’s a big player for us and you can’t score every penalty that you take.

“It was obviously a disappointing result and we had the better chances to win the game.

“It was one of those days where we didn’t take them and got punished.

“The result is done now and we can’t do anything about it; we’ve got to get our heads down and work hard towards the next game.”
Johnson stepped off the bench in the 57th minute of Saturday’s game to replace an injured Phil Bardsley and enjoy his first taste of action since the beginning of October.

A troublesome thigh problem had kept him sidelined since the 1-1 draw against Manchester United with the full back also unable to represent England having forced himself back into national team reckoning.

“It was great to be out there and it’s about minutes on the pitch for me now,” added the 32-year-old.

“Playing games is the only way of getting match fit but obviously I wish it was under different circumstances.

“I wish Bardo well and hopefully it’s nothing too serious for him.”

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Source: stokecityfc