Hopes fade for Johnson deal (From Dorset Echo)

Hopes fade for Johnson deal

9:07am Thursday 24th September 2009 in Club News By Ky Capel

WEYMOUTH’S hopes of luring ex-Premier League midfielder Andy Johnson to the Wessex Stadium appear to be fading.

Matty Hale wanted to secure the signature of the former West Brom-wich Albion ace ahead of Satur-day’s FA Cup second qualifying round trip to Bishops Cleeve.

But it looks like the Terras will have to make do without Johnson – a player who won 15 caps for Wales between 1998 and 2004 and commanded a fee in excess of £2million when he moved from Norwich to Nottingham Forest.

Boss Hale said: “I haven’t heard either way yet so it doesn’t look like anything will come off for Saturday. Having said that, any possible move is not completely dead in the water.”

To add to Hale’s frustrations, experienced defender Matt Bound, who rejoined the Terras 10 days ago, is “touch and go” for Saturday’s clash at the Zamaretto League Division One S&W Villagers.

Captain Kyle Critchell, who limped out of last Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to St Albans, is already sidelined with a fractured foot while fellow defender David Obaze has missed the last two games due to difficulties travelling.

Hale added: “Matt’s 50-50 at the moment. He suffered bruised ribs at Newport a week ago and it’s more serious than we first thought, as he’s been to hospital.

“With Kyle already out things are pretty tough at the moment, but hopefully Matt will be okay. We’ll wait until Friday and see how he is then. We’ve got see what we can do with trying to get David to games because he’s definitely still in my thoughts.”

n Weymouth Supporters’ Travel Club is running a coach to the FA Cup game at Bishops Cleeve.

The coach will leave the Wessex Stadium at 10am and the cost for this trip will be a maximum of £20.

If you want to book a seat telephone Ian White on 836361.