Good saves on the pitch, good deeds off it for West Brom's Sam Johnstone

But Sam Johnstone has made just as big an impression off the pitch as he has on it over the past 12 months.

It’s often the case that charitable work done by footballers goes under the radar.

And that is perhaps true at Albion more than any other club.

The Albion Foundation does outstanding work in the community – but they rarely shout about it, instead, they focus on helping rather than headlines.

Johnstone also kept his charitable work under wraps until being asked by journalists if he had done anything to help those less fortunate during lockdown.

And it turns out the shot-stopper has done an awful lot.

Johnstone paid for and delivered 6,000 meals to 61 schools in Birmingham.

He also paid for meals and specialist vitamin drinks to be distributed to NHS and care workers in his home town of Preston.

And he also donated £700 to a man in Manchester when he heard the van he had been using to feed homeless people had been burnt out.

“Some things you read just touch you,” Johnstone said. “You have to be in touch with the real world.

“It hurts when people slag footballers off and say they only work two hours and it is easy to play football.

“To give something back is massive. A lot of people are doing it. Some people do it and don’t say anything. You always want to help.

“People just see what you do on the pitch and judge you on that.

“ It is nice for people to see we are normal people and we want to help.

“You don’t realise how often that happens but now it’s being highlighted.”

Speaking last month, Johnstone revealed the lengths he is going to as he strives to be the best shot-stopper he can be.

Outside of his training programme set by Albion, he does yoga and heads to the gym a couple of evenings each week.

He also has a food prep company deliver all his meals to make sure he eats healthy.

And with frontline NHS workers giving their all to battle coronavirus during lockdown, Johnstone felt providing them with healthy meals would give them one less thing to think about at a very stressful time.

“I tried to do my bit to help out in lockdown,” the 27-year-old continued. “It’s been such a tough period for everyone, no matter who you are, where you work or what you do.

“I regularly use a gym in Preston that was forced to shut.

“They have a food company and the chef makes really healthy meals which I take home so I can eat good, nutritious food away from the ground.

“I suggested I would pay for his food and the gym owner distributed it to hospitals, care homes, fire and ambulance service.

“The staff were working tirelessly in the NHS and on the front line and they needed something quick to eat and ready to go and not worry about when they would next eat.

“All my family is from Preston and I’m in a fortunate position to be able to help.”

With Christmas just around the corner, there is now one gift Johnstone wants to give his family.

The goalkeeper says it often goes unnoticed the sacrifices parents and siblings have to make to help their loved ones achieve their dream of becoming a professional footballer.

Johnstone, who came through the youth ranks at Manchester United, had seven loan spells with mixed success before joining the Baggies in 2018. He says that time had a big impact on his parents as well as his two brothers.

And now he is a Premier League footballer, Johnstone is desperate for his family to be able to watch him at a top-flight game so he can again say thank-you for everything they have done for him.

“I don’t think people realise the massive sacrifice that the whole family makes for one person to grow up at a football club,” Johnstone continued.

“I’m very appreciative and grateful for that. Mum worked in the day in an office in a prison and at night she did mobile hairdressing.

“Dad was taking me to Manchester United training four nights a week so my brothers were getting dragged with us to Manchester or were staying at home on their own.

“My family followed me to Scunthorpe and Walsall when I went out on loan, to all these places in the freezing cold standing in the away end.

“Then I missed out in the play-offs a couple of times to get into the Premier League.

“Then you finally make it here and no-one is allowed in, it’s so frustrating.”

Johnstone has statistically been the best shot-stopper in the Premier League this season.

Data specialists Opta each week produce statistics they refer to as ‘post-shot expected goals’.

It means the number of goals a goalkeeper should concede based on the direction of shots they face and their position at the time.

According to those stats, Johnstone has saved more attempts that should have led to goals than any other keeper in the league.

That form has led to speculation he could soon earn an England call-up.

The shot-stopper has previously represented the Three Lions at under-16, under-17, under-19 and under-20 level.

And now he is determined to rival Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope and Dean Henderson for a place in the senior side.

“Pickford is a very good goalkeeper, so is Pope and Dean Henderson, and I want to be in the thick of that as well,” Johnstone added.

“I want to be pushing them and be on the minds of the England setup.

“I have been there as a kid and now I am in the Premier League playing and I want to get into that setup and keep pushing. It would be a dream come true.”