West Brom: Tony Mowbray must love Mikey Johnston, Leeds United evidence | OneFootball

West Bromwich Albion winger Mikey Johnston impressed at Elland Road on Saturday.

Mikey Johnston impressed for West Bromwich Albion against Leeds United at Elland Road on Saturday.

The Baggies picked up a valuable point at the home of the league leaders, which kept them inside the Championship play-off places, and Tony Mowbray will surely have been delighted with the performance of his 25-year-old winger.

Johnston joined the Albion on a permanent basis for a fee of £3 million in the summer transfer window, having made a significant impact while on loan from Celtic during the second half of last season.

He scored seven goals and assisted two in 20 appearances for West Brom as they reached the play-offs last term, which attracted interest from a number of clubs in the second tier, including Sheffield United and Burnley, but he ultimately made a return to the Hawthorns.

The winger has not produced as many moments of magic this season as he did during his loan spell, with his only goals coming in a 2-0 win against Bristol City in December. However, Mowbray will hope that his display against Leeds will give him the confidence to make a real difference between now and the end of the campaign.

Johnston impressed at Elland Road

Leeds have lost just once at home in the Championship so far this season, but West Brom travelled to West Yorkshire knowing that they would probably need to get a result if they were going to stay in the top six.

Mowbray handed Johnston his third start in four games on the left-hand side, and the Republic of Ireland international repaid his manager's faith with a lively performance.

No player on the pitch came close to completing more dribbles than the wideman, while he also won the highest number of duels by some margin, as per FotMob.

Johnston created the joint-highest number of chances during the game, which on another day may have resulted in his side picking up all three points.

In the first half, he played a clever ball through to Adam Armstrong, but the striker was unable to lift his effort beyond Illan Meslier.

After the interval, he delivered a left-footed cross which found Darnell Furlong, but he was unable to head home his second of the afternoon to give the visitors the lead.

Mowbray will have liked what he saw from Johnston before he was replaced by Daryl Dike in the closing stages at Elland Road, and he will be keen to see him deliver more good performances during the run-in as the Baggies look to secure a play-off place.

Johnston could be key to West Brom's play-off push

No team in the Championship has drawn more games than West Brom so far this season, with 16 of the Baggies' league outings having ended all square.

Therefore, it seems likely that there will be more games that are in the balance between now and the end of the season.

Johnston proved last season that he is capable of producing goals out of nothing, as he scored a handful of stunning long-range efforts that earned points in West Brom's favour.

If he can build on his performance against Leeds and get back to finding the net on a consistent basis during the remainder of the season, then he could single-handedly turn a few of those draws into wins, which could prove to be vital in the race for the play-offs.