Issue with $httpbackend while testing Angular Controler with Karma-Jasmine - angularjs

Question

I put the code in a fiddle so it can be easily updated and 'worked with' if needed.
describe('PlayersListCtrl', function() { // Jasmine Test Suite
beforeEach(module('wc2014App'));
var ctrl, scope, $httpBackend;
beforeEach(inject(function($controller, $rootScope) {
scope = $rootScope.$new();
ctrl = $controller('PlayersListCtrl', {
$scope: scope
});
}));
it('should have an empty player array', function() {
expect(scope.players.length).toBe(0);
});
describe('PlayersListCtrl', function() {
var $httpBackend, $rootScope, createController;
beforeEach(inject(function($injector) {
$httpBackend = $injector.get('$httpBackend');
$httpBackend.when('GET', '../app/stubs/players.json').respond(
{userId: 'userX'},
{'A-Token': 'xxx'});
$rootScope = $injector.get('$rootScope');
var $controller = $injector.get('$controller');
createController = function() {
return $controller('PlayersListCtrl', {'$scope' : $rootScope });
};
}));
afterEach(function() {
$httpBackend.verifyNoOutstandingExpectation();
$httpBackend.verifyNoOutstandingRequest();
});
it('should fetch authentication token', function() {
$httpBackend.expectGET('../app/stubs/players.json');
var controller = createController();
$httpBackend.flush();
});
});
});
The rest, cause its quite verbose, is in the fiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/tLte2/
Basically the first test passes, not a hard one, but the second one depends on a JSON stub and gives errors like:
PhantomJS 1.9.7 (Mac OS X) PlayersListCtrl PlayersListCtrl should fetch authentication token FAILED
Error: No pending request to flush !
Cant seem to get a grip on how this $httpBackend stiff works. Is must be possible to just fire it and set the result in the scope of the controller?
--edit
Basically got everything wired up perfectly and can do some simple tests that run just fine, however getting JSON stub data in there seems to be a pain. Workaround can be just defining the array described in the the JSON on the controller scope like: controller.players = ['one','two','three',..... etc ......]
But that doesnt feel right. That $httpBackend stuff shouldn't be that hard to fix right?