Tigers hopeful on Johnson
4:16:32 PM Mon 1 May, 2006
Paul Gough
Sportal for afl.com.au
Richmond is confident skipper Kane Johnson will be available for Saturday night's MCG clash against Essendon after scans on Monday cleared him of any damage to his hamstring.
There were fears that Johnson, who has had a history of hamstring problems, could have missed up to three weeks after suffering soreness during Friday night's win over Carlton.
However Richmond football manager Paul Armstrong told afl.com.au on Monday the Tigers were confident their skipper will be ready for Saturday night's big 'Dreamtime at the G' clash against their arch-rivals.
"The scans didn’t show anything and now it's a matter of monitoring him closely during the week," Armstrong said of Johnson.
"But we are confident he will come through."
Armstrong said the fact the Tigers will enjoy an eight-day break before Saturday night's clash against the Bombers would also help Johnson, who is expected to have a light week on the training track.
The Tigers will be aiming for their third successive win on Saturday night as they bid to get their season back on level terms after losing the first three games and they received another boost on Monday when key defender Ray Hall was cleared of any damage to his injured ankle.
Hall is expected to also play on Saturday night in what is a huge relief for the Tigers considering they could not afford to lose any more tall defenders with Darren Gaspar (hamstring), Jay Schulz (shoulder) and Will Thursfield (knee) already sidelined, although there is a chance Gaspar could return this week.
The Tigers will also consider promoting ruckman Trent Knobel, who is yet to play a senior game this season after an injury-marred pre-season, after he was one of the best for Coburg in the VFL on Sunday.
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