Anthony Johnson has hailed the ‘phenomenal’ workrate of winger Craig Mahon this season.

The 29-year-old Irishman has been a standout performer for the Blues this term and a constant presence in their attack.

After a three-week fixture break, Mahon showed no lack of match sharpness when he equalised in the 2-1 Cheshire Senior Cup victory over Witton Albion on Tuesday night.

Upon taking charge at the club in the summer, Johnson and fellow Blues joint-manager Bernard Morley made retaining Mahon’s services a priority.

And, as one of only two survivors of last year’s relegated first-team squad, the pacy wideman is now enjoying a new lease of life in his sixth season with the club.

Johnson said: “One of the first things me and Bernard did was sit down with Mahony and have a long chat about his future with the club.

“We knew there had been some issues between Craig and the previous manager, but as far as we’re concerned it was a clean slate for him.

“He was always a part of our plans and we always wanted him on board to help us succeed here.

“Credit to him, because since that point because he’s come into the side and been terrific for us and you can see that he’s playing with a smile on his face again.

“His workrate all over the pitch is just phenomenal and as a player he really doesn’t require that much coaching at all.

“He’s clever and reads the game very well, so that part of his game takes care of itself really.

“What we like about him is that whenever he has the ball he’s looking to make something happen for us.

“Whether that’s his link-up play, running at defenders, winning a free-kick or a corner, or getting a shot away - he’s always looking to make something happen.

“Bernard and me love those type of players. They’re exciting, they get fans on the edge of their seats and they can be a joy to watch sometimes.

“As a manager you’ve got to be careful sometimes not to overburden players like him with too much instruction and guidance.

“I think he’s enjoying playing with a bit more freedom in that sense, but it’s also the case that he’s really bought into what we’ve asked of him and what we’re trying to do here.”

A strong Blues starting XI laboured on their competitive return to action against Witton, only securing victory via Gary Roberts’ 85th minute penalty.

Johnson was unsurprised by the nature of the game, insisting his side looked ‘rusty and a yard too slow’ in the cup clash.

But he has backed his players to be much improved for their ‘massive’ National League North game at home to Alfreton Town on Saturday.

He said: “We talk about our cohesion as a team quite a lot, but there was very little of that against Witton.

“In many ways it was the type of game we expected it to be.

“We’ve trained hard for the last three weeks or so to keep those fitness levels as high as possible, but you can’t replicate the intensity of a competitive game.

“The other aspect that comes into play is that we didn’t want to be picking up injuries in the game that would then affect our league campaign.

“We respect the Cheshire Cup, but it goes without saying that the league is our priority.

“So as much as you want players to recover that sharpness quickly, you don’t want them flying into tackles or risking a bad knock either.

“It was a real balancing act, but I thought we did okay overall.

“If you were marking the lads out of 10 it would be five and sixes all round, but we got the job done and we’re in much better shape for Saturday, which is massive.