"I can't stress enough how important the fans are going to be" - Town captain Johnson on home form, play-off chances and his future

Five of Halifax's next six games are at The Shay, but they have struggled to find form on their own patch, losing as many times as they've won at home in the league.

That's in stark contrast to their form on the road, with only Oldham having a better away record than them in the National League this season.

And Johnson says if The Shaymen can start producing the goods at home, then a play-off spot is definitely achievable.

"The smaller picture is we're two thirds the way through the season, 30 games in and we're sixth in the league," Johnson said when asked for his assessment of where Town are at as a team.

"So we can't be too downbeat about it. We're in a really good place.

"When you look back at last year, we were always outside the play-offs with ten or 15 games to go, and now we have a spot in them.

"We've just got to capitalise on that. We've had some tough games in the last ten games or so, but have only lost two.

"If we match that in the next ten, we're in pole position to finish in those play-offs.

"But the bigger picture is we think we're better than that.

"We think we can finish higher.

"Solihull were in the play-offs when we played them, Altrincham, Barnet, Forest Green, Gateahead, we've shown (against them all) we're more than good enough to beat the teams around us.

"We feel like we can finish higher. I'm an optimist more than a realist, so although the top three's away from us, we think we can finish in those fourth or fifth spots, and that's our aim going into the last third of the season."

Johnson says Town have hit upon a successful way of playing on the road, but that's only half the battle in the fight for the top seven.

"I think you can split it into two really: continue what we're doing away from home and we'll be fine," he said.

"I'm hoping Tuesday night was just a blip but we've got a formula away from home that really suits us, how we're structured.

"Teams find it hard to break us down and we're good on the counter.

"But ultimately we've got to sort our home form out.

"Five of our next six games are at home.

"We've struggled for momentum at home - we've only played two games at home in the last two months I think.

"Ultimately we haven't played that well at home.

"Honestly, I can't stress enough how important the fans are going to be in this little run of five games out of six at home.

"If we can pick up moimentum in those games and get the fans behind us, and sort it out, we've got such a good chance of finishing high up.

"But it's down to us to play better, and I think the crowd will react better to if we're paying better.

"As a club, I think we need to become more united, I'd say.

"I've been here a long time, and there's an anxiousness about how we're playing at home sometimes.

"The players feed off the crowd sometimes I think.

"I've seen The Shay be a fortress at times, I've seen it be such a difficult place for teams to come and I think teams will come to our place, with the pitch not in a great condition, and think 'I don't know if we fancy that'.

"Especially when the South Stand's rocking, like it can be and like I've seen it do many times.

"If we can get that going, get that drum beating, we've got a hell of a chance."

Johnson says it will take a collective effort from players and supporters to establish some home form

"It works both ways. If we play better, the crowd are going to react more and then we'll play even better," he said.

"We've got no given right just to beat everyone at home, just because we're high up in the league.

"Every game's tough. Teams will come and do what we do to teams away from home and sit back, make it hard for us to break them down.

"So when times aren't as good and the game isn't flowing and we're not doing that well, sometimes we do need that bit of a lift.

"It goes a long way, trust me, especially when there's been times when you come off at half-time to boos.

"It's not nice.

"We're a young team. I've been there and done it and I'm big enough to deal with it, but it's not nice, it doesn't get lads going.

"It's not a dig at the fans because we've been pretty poor at home but we've got to find a formula because what we're doing at home isn't working as well as we want.

"It's not something we're not talking about, it's not something we're not trying (to fix).

"It's mainly down to us but if we can get that little bit of extra help, it's easier said than done, but I'd love it if we can get more people through the doors.

"I've seen the place rocking many times and as a club, if we can be united, we've got the same goal at the end of the day, and it's going to take us being all together to do it."

Johnson added: "If we replicate what we're doing away at home, we're going to finish in those play-offs.

"It's easier said than done and it's down to us on the pitch to figure out the problems.

"But it's there for us. We're in pole position currently, we've still got a game in hand on some of the teams below us to make a bit more of a gap.

"But these next two games are massive, we've got a really big game against Boston to bounce back after a difficult result.

"And then we've got a derby against Rochdale that's always a good game.

"They're a few points behind us with games in hand so if we can create that little bit of a gap, it can give us more momentum going into a big game against York."

Johnson accepts Halifax were beaten by the better team at Southend on Tuesday night.

"It was a tough game," he said.

"They're probably in a bit of a false position - both times we've come up against them, they've been really good.

"And it's a place where we've struggled at the last few years.

"The better team won, although they probably didn't get the goals through good play, it's come from us switching off a bit.

"But it was the right result but hopefully we can bounce back from it."

Tuesday's defeat was only the third time this season Johnson has conceded more than twice in a game, and came off the back of a man-of-the-match display in Halifax's 2-1 win at Tamworth.

"I'd like to think I've just been my usual, solid self," the Town captain said.

"I've got pretty high standards. I've kept a number of clean sheets, could have been more.

"Arguably, over the last few seasons, I've been in the top few per cent of the best keepers in the league.

"If those standards do drop, people expect more of me and that's fine, I expect more of myself.

"But if I can get even better and reach the heights I have done in the past few years, I'm hoping I can win us more points this season."

Johnson is out of contract this summer, but is open to extending his deal again, which would take him past the ten-year mark at Town.

"I've said many times I love playing for this club, I love representing the club, I'm captain, which means a lot to me," he said.

"It's a position I think I've grown into and I love being the voice in the dressing room, who the lads can look up to.

"I'm out of contract but if talks were to start soon, it wouldn't really take too long to convince me to sign for a few more years.

"I'm hoping I've got a lot left in the locker to provide for this club and ultimately, the goal for me and the club is to get promoted and if I can be the person that gets us there, that would be amazing."