Johnson made his debut in the win against West Coast in round 3, and also played in the round 4 match against Geelong,  showing plenty of potential as a fiercely competitive tall defender.

Johnson strained his hamstring  playing against the Cats.  Swans physiotherapist Matt Cameron says it’s only a minor strain and Johnson should be ok to resume in round 7.

There was good news on the injury front when another young Swans defender Campbell Heath, returned to full training this week, less than three months after LARS surgery to repair a ruptured ACL.

Heath was all smiles as he was put through testing drills at training, and he will be out on the track for another full session tomorrow.

Heath is desperate to get back playing with the reserves but Cameron says he’ll have to wait until at least the weekend of May 7, or perhaps the following week depending on how his body copes with the return to rigorous training.

Nick Malceski is also progressing smoothly after his LARS surgery and is expected to start full training with the team next week.  “He is going very well at this stage,’’ Cameron said.

“He’s progressing even more quickly than he did the last time he had LARS surgery, partly because he’s already had the operation, and also because he’s older, and older players hold their fitness for longer.’’

Daniel Bradshaw has been running this week but is still listed as “indefinite’’ for a return to playing.

“He’s slowly doing more and more and he’s coping fine at the moment,’’ Cameron said.

Coach John Longmire said yesterday he believed Bradshaw would make an appearance in the not too distant future.

“He is running at the moment, taking small steps at a time and increasing the load through his knee and hoping that it stands up,’’ Longmire said.

“He’ll be running a bit more next week and hopefully getting to the stage where he can train.

“What we do know is that we can’t train him too hard before we play him so that will be a consideration and hopefully he gets through the next week or two of training and then he is able to get out there.

“It is really unpredictable…and we can’t really say when he’s going to be back. It can change from week to week. We are not putting him under too much pressure, and hoping he can get back at some stage.

“He is still desperate to play, we’re still desperate for him to play and we’re confident that will still occur. Our doctors and medical staff are confident we can get the work into him in the next few weeks and hopefully we can get a game into him in the not too distant future.’’

The full injury list is:

Daniel Bradshaw - knee - indefinite

Campbell Heath - knee - 1-2 weeks

Nick Malceski - knee - 3-4 weeks

Alex Johnson - hamstring - 1 week