Lee Johnson spoke about Josh Hawkes and Denver Hume, after both players' exits were recently announced.
OLDER
"With Josh, he's got some real quality but he's a bit older than you think, because he's sort of come through that academy system. If he's 17 or 18 there's no way we allow it to happen but it's similar to Denver. He's just turned 23, he's too good for U23s football but not quite making our starting XI, so you therefore have to make an assessment.
VALUE
"You can always retain value and options to potentially pull a player back. When I was at Bristol City there were 15 or 16 players that were deemed not quite good enough but actually through coaching and good attitudes on the player's part holds a value moving forward, whether that be through buy-back clauses, sell-on clauses, matching rights etc. We've always got our eyes on players who move on."
FRUSTRATING
"I've always been a believer in Denver in terms of what we can do with him and what he can do with himself. I think the frustrating thing was just the bitty nature of his injuries, which have been difficult for him. Then for him, I think it's just those minutes on the pitch."
RIGHT THING TO DO
"He wanted more and rightly so, all players do. He does deserve those minutes and that's why you come to the conclusion that if it's a good offer, which it was from Portsmouth, it's a good club, then you can retain some value and it's the right thing to do."
BEST WISHES
"Denver goes with our best wishes, we want him to do well. I exchanged some really good messages with him and the club as a whole [left on good terms]. We wanted Denver to come through here which was why we offered him that new contract in the summer, and at the same time you protect that financial position. Someone has then come in and paid a transfer fee. There's no animosity there at all, we wish him all the best."
