"I don't think anyone's losing any faith" - Town keeper Johnson confident Shaymen can put their poor start behind them

The keeper is in his eighth season at The Shay, and has been involved in relegations, promotions, unbeaten runs and winless runs, so is well-placed to assess Halifax's current situation.

Town are without a win and a goal in their first four matches of the season and are bottom of the National League ahead of this Bank Holiday weekend's double header against Notts County and Scunthorpe.

"We can't really sugar coat anything can we, it's been a disappointing start," Johnson said.

"Obviously teams want to get their season up and running straight away but unfortunately for us it just hasn't happened.

"As someone who's been here for a while I've seen good starts and bad starts, and it's not the be all and end all. Like they say, it's a marathon, not a sprint.

"But we do need to start picking up points and we've got a good weekend ahead, a couple of good games where hopefully we can start."

Johnson added: "I don't think anyone's losing any faith, especially inside the club, where it matters the most.

"Teams go through bad spells throughout the season, unfortunately for us it just seems to have happened at the start of the season.

"Especially at home, we've created a lot of chances, we had the Torquay game, where on another day it could have been 3-0 or 4-0 and no-one would have batted an eyelid.

"We played OK against Southend, but away from home we've just been lacking a bit of something.

"I can't really put a finger on it but the lads have been training hard the last couple of weeks, to get the right results."

Johnson says there is an acceptance among the Town squad that things haven't been good enough so far.

"If anyone's ever spoken to Milly, he's one of the most driven people I've met in football, and he's certainly not happy," said the Town keeper.

"None of the lads are happy. You've got winners here, people who've come from Stockport and won titles, people who've come down from different leagues and done good things in the game.

"They're raising the standards, but it just hasn't happened at the minute.

"I've seen there's a bit more grit around the place this week, a few more tackles going in because people are aware there are spaces up for grabs and they want to take them."

Johnson says the senior figures in the Halifax squad are needed in helping to get the team out of their current winless rut.

"You've got the likes of Keano (Jordan Keane), Mini (Sam Minihan) and Summers (Luke Summerfield), who have been around football for a long time, and this is where you need those kinds of people the most, who have been on bad runs before.

"I'm not really a shouter and screamer but you do need calm heads in this moment, to say 'listen, it will turn'.

"They're important at this time of the season. There's been a few balling and shouts that have been going on because we know it's got to be better, but you do need calm heads in these situations."

Despite the club's poor start, Johnson is still confident they can replicate the promotion push they have achieved over the last three seasons.

"I don't see any reason why not," said the Town keeper.

"We've signed good players from teams who've been promoted, good players have been kept on.

"It's not making excuses, we have got a bit of a new team, we had a few late signings as well, so maybe it's just a few people trying to get to grips with what we're trying to do.

"We've had a few injuries as well but hopefully they can come back and bolster the squad as well."

When asked what he felt was the minimum requirement for Town from the upcoming Bank Holiday double-header against Notts County and Scunthorpe, Johnson said: "We do need to start picking up points, there's no ignoring that fact.

"We do go into every game thinking we are going to win it, obviously that's not going to be the case and it hasn't been the case so far.

"But I think if we can get four points, then we've got a good few fixtures ahead that I've seen.

"So if we can pick up four, get a win under our belts and obviously score a goal, that would be a great start for us.

"If we can get four points minimum, we can kick on from there."

Johnson was made club captain over the summer by Chris Millington, something he says was a big honour to him.

"It means a lot to me, I don't think there'll be many at the club that care more about the club than me," he said.

"People can hopefully look up to me as someone who has played a lot of games for the club.

"I've been with Milly for three or four years now, so I know what he wants.

"I've probably got to step up a bit more than I've ever done before to guide some players if they need guidance.

"I'm someone who knows what it takes to be a Halifax player so they can look up to me and hopefully my performances can show that."