Jermaine Johnson's sorry for red mist

Stafford Rangers start a new week preparing to return to action in the Blue Square North with a public apology to supporters from defender Jermaine Johnson.

The 20-year-old is banned for the next five games after two red cards in successive games against Eastwood and Hinckley - the last game of Chris Brindley's reign as boss.

By the time Johnson had the rest of the squad returned to training last Thursday night Brindley had quit the club, depriving the youngster of the chance to apologise to his manager.

There's nothing the former Chelsea and Derby County prospect can do about that now but he is eager to say sorry to the Rangers fans, who have barely seen anything of him since he signed permanently in the summer.

A hamstring injury suffered in a pre-season friendly against Hednesford kept him out until the end of last month, when he returned for the FA Cup tie at Eastwood.

A red card in the replay and a sending off at Hinckley four days later have been the sum total of his contribution since and, with five games to sit out and a new manager to come in, frustrations are boiling to the surface for Johnson.

He said: "It was the hardest week of my career, to be fair. I just want to apologise to the supporters, because they have always been good to me.

"It's a game, things like this happen, all I can do is learn from my mistakes and hopefully I will come back a better player from this.

"But it's being to be so hard sitting out the games, thinking I could be out there making a difference.

"I just want to play football."