Gillingham v Walsall: In form striker Danny Johnson no stranger to long trips

Hailing from Middlesbrough, the striker is no stranger to long journeys.

“When you’re from the north-east, everywhere is a long way,” he smiles. “Trips like Barrow on Tuesday night, are just round the corner.”

Even so, the travelling – combined with a hectic early season fixture list – isn’t making things easy for the Saddlers. Boss Michael Flynn admitted in the wake of Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat at Barrow how most of the current focus is on recovery with training sessions limited.

After going to Cumbria and back in a day, Walsall’s squad will at least journey to Kent this evening and stay overnight ahead of tomorrow’s match at Gillingham, meaning their second 330-mile round-trip in five days just that little bit easier.

“You have to keep yourself mobile on the bus,” explained Johnson when asked about the trip to Barrow. “Keep yourself moving around, you’ll see players stretching off on the step every now and again. You have to do what you do to get to the game and get ready.”

Flynn accused his team of looking like they were still on the bus after conceding twice in the first 12 minutes at Holker Street. The defeat, following on from the manner of last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Stevenage when their opponents equalised with the last kick, has slowed the momentum built from wins over Hartlepool and Newport yet it remains very much early days.

Johnson has undoubtedly been among the big positives. Though it proved only a consolation, his second-half goal at Barrow was his sixth in five matches since joining on loan from Mansfield for the first half of the season.

“I’m delighted with how it’s gone so far,” he said. “When I arrived here I said I would score goals, so I put a lot of pressure on myself but I’ve thrived on it. I just want to keep going now and help the team by scoring goals. My job is pretty straightforward.”

Gillingham have lost three of their opening four matches and were beaten 2-0 at home by Harrogate on Tuesday night.

For the Saddlers, a return of seven points from their four games represents a more than respectable start for a team largely assembled over the summer but Johnson is eager to quickly return to winning ways.

“You don’t want to be dwelling on a defeat for too long,” he said. “It’s good we now have another match so quickly as you want to get straight back at it and put in a good performance to forget about Tuesday night.

“I think we’ve made a good start. It is just the manner of how we conceded late on at the weekend, and then that first half on Tuesday when we didn’t really give ourselves a chance. It can be deflating.

“Players have settled in well. We’ve had a good start and just need to get back on it now.”