Ben Johnson enjoyed a game of two halves in West Ham United’s 4-0 Premier League win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
The defender showed his value to the Irons yet again on his 50th top-flight appearance in Claret and Blue, first by keeping Brennan Johnson out while playing at left-back in the opening 45 minutes, then by silencing Morgan Gibbs-White and former Hammer Jesse Lingard at right-back in the second.
It all amounted to a clean sheet and a vital victory on the 23-year-old’s return to the Premier League starting XI for the first time since 24 October. In the 344 minutes Johnson has been on the pitch in all competitions in 2023, the Irons have yet to concede a goal.
The modest No2 smiled when told of that statistic, but is serious about his team’s hopes of staying in the top-flight after West Ham’s biggest victory of the season.
“That was much better, and just a lot of relief, a lot of joy, a lot of happiness, not just individually, but collectively for everyone at the Club,” he confirmed. “It’s obviously not easy to take the bad results, so to win emphatically today was just the perfect win and hopefully that gives us some confidence going into United on Wednesday and now the European fixtures are starting again.
“Of course, the most important games and Premier League ones, so we’re just trying to score as many as we can keep as many in as many as we can out but ultimately it’s just a great Saturday, everyone feels good and it’s much deserved for our recent performances.”
Johnson and two-goal full debutant Danny Ings have grown close since the England striker arrived at Rush Green in January, with the No18 taking the defender and midfielder Flynn Downes under his wing, sharing his experience and professionalism with his younger teammates – something Johnson himself hugely appreciates, and the reason why he was so happy to see his new teammate and friend hit the net.
“Danny has taught me so much in a short space of time, just his experience is second to none with the clubs he’s been at and what he’s done and he showed it again today,” he enthused. “So he’s been very good for me and Flynn and we’re just learning from him and he’s been teaching us a couple things, so I’m just buzzing for him.
“We’ve had good conversations and I said he was going to score so it’s perfect when someone goes and does the job and it was what we needed at the right time because the game was going a bit stale.”
While scoring four goals was welcome, Johnson was delighted to be part of a team which kept a fifth Premier League clean sheet of the season, particularly having been asked to play on both sides of the back four.
“It’s not easy, because obviously you’re going from one side of the pitch to the other, you have to use both legs, the left one in the in the first half predominantly and then obviously moving naturally to the right in the second,” he confirmed. “But it’s doing the same job and something that sort of comes hand in hand.
“I’ve tried to learn my job as best as I can and, of course, I’m still learning and training and in every game or when I’m called upon just to give 100 per cent. So it was a game of two halves really for me and it was just good that we got the win.
“Hopefully I can keep it up. We’ve got a big game on Wednesday and we want to go to Old Trafford, and win because we’ve been there a few times over the last few years and not quite got the win in the FA Cup or the three points in the league, so somehow we definitely want to win and get through and really go on a decent cup run.
"We’ve got two opportunities in the Europa Conference League and the FA Cup, so that’s something we want to do.”
