West Brom: Chris Wilder, Sheffield United admission may draw summer fear | OneFootball

The Baggies may fear of losing Mikey Johnston earlier than thought if Sheffield United gain promotion back to the Premier League.

West Bromwich Albion continued to show that they can compete with some of the top sides in the division after earning a 2-2 draw against league leaders Sheffield United last Sunday.

The Baggies grabbed their 11th draw of the second tier season against the Blades, with Torbjorn Heggem originally heading Albion in front before a deflected Tom Fellows effort dragged the Black Country outfit level after they had fallen behind earlier in the first half.

While the frustrating run of draws continued, West Brom followed up that display with a 2-0 victory over Frank Lampard’s Coventry City in midweek, with four points taken from the last six available an impressive tally.

This leaves Albion in the top six and well within the race for a play-off spot come the end of the season, but if the Baggies don’t get promoted and Sheffield United return to the top flight, then they risk losing one of their key forwards, which will be a hammer blow.

Chris Wilder’s comments about Mikey Johnston

Speaking after their draw against the Baggies, Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder revealed their interest in Johnston over the summer, before the Republic of Ireland international made a permanent switch to The Hawthorns.

It was reported by Alan Nixon that the Yorkshire-based outfit had agreed a £2.5 million fee with Scottish giants Celtic for the 25-year-old, before he turned down a move to Bramall Lane.

As reported by the Yorkshire Post, Wilder said: "West Bromwich Albion are a fabulous club, (with a) great squad of players – I'd say the front four is right up there, Fellows a top player, Mikey Johnston we were after in the summer, experience right the way through with Kyle Bartley.

"The way they came after us, they were incredibly aggressive on the press, played forward down the sides and put us right on the back foot from the off.

"It was a massive test for us, especially after 20, 25 minutes, especially scoring from a set play – it's a great ball and a fabulous finish. I'm stood on the sideline saying this will be interesting now, let's see what our team is all about."

Mikey Johnston form at West Brom

Johnston was electric in the West Midlands after his initial loan spell from Celtic, scoring seven times from 18 Championship appearances, with his instant impact helping Albion reach the play-offs.

After returning permanently, the wideman hasn’t shown such prolificness at the moment, failing to score and providing just one assist from 15 second tier outings, but Johnston did look more like himself against Chris Wilder’s men, and continued to give Blades full-back Femi Seriki a tough evening on the left-hand side.

Early Mikey Johnston exit will be a blow to West Brom

With Johnston getting fitter and gaining more regular first-team minutes as of late, it’s surely only a matter of time before he starts producing the attacking numbers we witnessed last campaign.

The Baggies will sincerely be hoping this can happen quickly, so optimism can be built again among the Albion faithful about a potential return to the Premier League.

But after Wilder’s comments about their interest in Johnston, the winger could make a hasty exit, particularly if Sheffield United gain promotion and Albion are resigned to another season of Championship football.

Being in the Premier League, the Blades would possess much more significant pulling power and Johnston would surely be keen on testing himself at the highest level and against the biggest of clubs in English football.