"I do think there's another chapter to tell in my story here," says Shaymen skipper Sam Johnson

The goalkeeper signed a new two-year contract this summer, which will see him pass the tenth anniversary of his Town debut and should see him surpass 500 appearances for the club too.

The 32-year-old admits he did pause for thought before putting pen to paper, but remains fully on board for another promotion push.

"The last two years have both finished in heartbreak and after everything we've been through, the seasons we've had, it took me a couple of weeks to get over that Oldham game," he told the Courier.

"Trying to find the motivation, to see whether I could do it again, but I'm like a fan now and after a couple of weeks, I get sucked in and think 'go on then, I still believe'.

"And I do think there's another chapter to tell in my story here.

"I've ticked off most things at this club and promotion's still the one I want the most.

"Once I got my head around it and calmed down after that game, it was just business as usual and looking forward to another season."

Adam Lakeland is FC Halifax Town manager number six for Sam Johnson after Jim Harvey, Billy Heath, Jamie Fullarton, Pete Wild and Chris Millington, while former team-mate Sam Walker is now the club's assistant manager.

"It's a worry because I've started to realise I'm getting old when ex-team mates are becoming my assistant managers!," Johnson joked.

"He's a really good guy is Sam, he's got real enthusiasm for the game, he joins in training a lot and because he's just come out of the game, he can relate to us well.

"The gaffer's really demanding. He's on you every day in training, demanding the most from you.

"He doesn't accept any sloppiness, and maybe for me and some of the others who've been here a while, it's nice to have a bit of a change, different sessions going on.

"That's nothing against Milly but sometimes different sessions and things can refresh your mind, and it's been really good."

Johnson feels he has seen the right things from Halifax during pre-season training and games to suggest they can maintain their status as promotion contenders.

"I think there's been a bit of a change in mentality when it comes to some of the (pre-season) games, we've been ruthless," he said.

"The amount of goals we've scored, that's not something that's happened over the last couple of years.

"Maybe that'll reflect in the season. Last season we were good defensively but probably didn't score enough goals.

"Don't get me wrong, that's nothing against Milly, he achieved great things here, but it's maybe a bit of a different mentality.

"We seem fitter and I think there's a lot more communication going on, which is what you need as a young group.

"Some of the lads from last year - Jenks (Jack Jenkins), Flo (Florent Hoti), Owen (Bray) - they've got to step up again.

"Even though they did well last season, there's still more to come and more to give.

"And I think the lads that have come in have added some real quality.

"There's some good experience with Shaun (Hobson) coming in.

"There's positive signs for far but it's what happens in the season that counts and I'd probably happily lose all the pre-season games if it meant we won at Braintree.

"The mentality we're trying to get into is that winning's a great habit, and hopefully we see that in the first game."

Johnson remains the only Town player in the squad over the age of 30, and is happy to be the experienced head guiding another young group.

"That's how I see myself and I think that's how they see me - like a father figure!," he said.

"I just oversee everything that goes on really, but to be fair to them, they're a really close-knit bunch because they're a similar age.

"They're all good friends, they've all got similar things going on in their lives.

"I'm a bit older, so they're on about different things to me sometimes, but that togetherness is really coming across to me."

Johnson insists he wouldn't have stayed on at The Shay if he didn't think that long-awaited promotion was possible.

"The gaffer isn't demanding anything less than that," he said.

"There's tough teams out there. York have added to what they already had, you've got the likes of Carlisle coming down, you'll have the usual suspects like Rochdale, Forest Green and a couple of other teams seem to have bought really well.

"But it's down to us, we've got to get into a good rhythm, get into a good momentum and hopefully pick up a lot of wins.

"I think home form's going to be a lot more important this year, we've had the exucse of the pitch over the last couple of years but we can't have that again.

"We've noticed when the fans haven't been happy with what's been going on but we really need that togetherness throughout the season if we're to achieve anything."

And Johnson is adamant the fact that there's a new manager and a new-look squad shouldn't mean Town settle for less this season.

"No-one's thinking mid-table mediocrity's good enough," he said.

"I certainly won't accept that and the gaffer won't either, and neither will any of the lads.

"We're aiming as high as possible and we'll work from there."