Johnson hoping for a flying start as Brackley prepare to return to action

It’s been nearly three weeks since the Saints drew 1-1 with Chester in their last outing with the freezing temperatures ensuring Brackley have been left kicking their heels.

But there should be no issues as they gear up to take on eighth-placed Gloucester City at St James Park at the weekend.

Brackley now find themselves in fourth place in the Vanarama National League North table and four points behind new leaders AFC Fylde.

But Johnson is only focused on his team and ensuring they restart better than they did after a similar break from action back in December.

“Gloucester are in and around the play-offs, they are quietly getting on with their job,” the Brackley boss said.

“I am sure they will be disappointed with their result at the weekend (a 2-2 draw with Blyth Spartans) after they were 2-0 up against 10 men but each game is so different and it will be tough.

“We are at home so we will be looking to get maximum points but we won’t go into it over confident. We just need to be us.

“It’s difficult because by the weekend we wouldn’t have had a game for three weeks.

“The last time that happened, we were slow to start.

“All we can do is prepare the boys. We have been doing a lot of training so the fitness levels will be there but you can’t recreate a match situation in training.

“Hopefully, this time round the boys will be at it but we are expecting a very tough game.”

The recent postponements mean there will be a number of games to catch up on and Brackley will be straight back into action after the weekend when they head to Scarborough Athletic next Tuesday night.

And Johnson knows his team must be ready for a gruelling schedule over the next few weeks.

“We found ourselves in a position where we were chipping away nicely and other teams had a few fixtures to catch up on,” he added.

“Fylde have caught up a little bit but we are in a similar position now.

“It’s going to be tough for everybody. We just need to keep players fit.

“It’s going to be a tough schedule and there will be a lot of demand on the players. We just need to try to come through the games with three points and players unscathed.”