Orlando City midfielder Will Johnson says he "regrets" comments he made last week in the wake of his departure from Toronto FC.
Johnson started 19 games last season for TFC but was sidelined by an injury in June and afterward struggled to get back in the squad.
He told the Toronto Star that he "felt disrespected in terms of getting an injury, sacrificing myself for the group, and then I felt like I never received a fair chance when I got back."
Johnson said Toronto coach Greg Vanney "didn't give me the same fair shake" as he did when stars Sebastian Giovinco and Michael Bradley and goalkeeper Clint Irwin missed time with injuries.
But the 29-year-old, who signed with Orlando City as a free agent this offseason, said he made a mistake in naming players who he thought received special treatment.
"The part that you bring up about my teammates is something that yeah, probably not a good idea to bring up individuals just because injuries happen at different times throughout the year [and] opportunities are based on results to get their spots back," Johnson told Red Card.
"When you bring up the part about naming individuals and specific injuries and getting their spots back, I agree with you: That's not me and that's the part that I regret."
Johnson also said he did not have any personal issues with Vanney, but simply moved on for "something different."
"I want people to understand that I think Greg's done a really good job with Toronto," he said. "I'm not going to go through each decision and how it was made per se, but obviously the way things ended with me and as pertains to my individual circumstances for the final half of the year after my injury, those parts... the private conversations Greg and I had left me disappointed and ultimately I decided that it was time for me to move on and find a new challenge."
