Fleetwood Town are ready for the fight says Portsmouth loanee defender

Despite being a seasoned pro at this level, this season is quite new to Johnson, who is at Highbury on loan from Portsmouth for the season.

The former Accrington Stanley man is used to playing in the top half of the division and admits that the high stakes of being at the bottom is a grind.

The mental side of the game comes with the territory for the 25-year-old.

He said: “We are in a relegation battle and it's something that is new to me. People will say that we've got a young side and I'm probably classed as an experienced player now, I'm coming up to 200 games, and I'm new to this situation.

"Certain players might have played a lot of games and not had the experience of a relegation fight.

"It is tough but that's why we're footballers - because we can deal with the mental side of things that come with it.

"These are the times that you have to stand up and be counted otherwise you will end up on the wrong side of the line and I believe we've got the right people and the right personalities to make sure we stick together and to bring the young lads with us.

"The young lads could help us massively, they're good players.

"We just need to make sure we're relentless and doing everything mentially and physically to be on the right side of that line.”

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