STEVE Price says Jack Johnson was “really knocking on the door” for first-team selection before suffering the horrific injury that ended his season.

Johnson suffered a double leg-break in training last Tuesday and had successful surgery on Wednesday.

Price praised Johnson’s “outstanding character” and has backed the 21-year-old to bounce back from his injury.

“All the boys have spoken to JJ and a lot of them went to see him at the hospital. He’s in good spirits considering the injury he had,” he said.

“It’s not good when you see injuries like that happen, but he’s got a lot of good years ahead of him.

“He was really knocking on the door and training really well. He’s got an outstanding character for a young fella.

“It’s good that there’s no damage to his ankle. It was just a clean break.

“I’ve seen plenty of players come back from those sorts of injuries.”