Right-back Callum Johnson is relishing the challenge of meeting and matching new opponents as he adjusts to playing for Ross County in the Premiership.
Johnson is in line to make his first league start of the season against St Mirren on Saturday due to Connor Randall suffering a broken bone in his leg to keep him out long-term.
Highly-rated 25-year-old former Middlesbrough youth player Johnson has made three substitute appearances so far after debuting from the start in the 2-0 Premier Sports Cup win at Alloa Athletic last month.
Playing for Portsmouth and Fleetwood Town in recent years brought him to the attention of County manager Malky Mackay, who signed him in July on a two-year contract.
Johnson is determined to show what he can bring to Scotland’s top-flight and is doing regular homework on his direct opponents, aided by club analyst Enda Barron.
He said: “I must have played around 200 games in (England’s) League 1 and I know every winger, whether they are left or right-footed, whether they track me when I run forward, whether they are good in the air.
“I probably know just about every player in League 1.
“Up here, I’ve been speaking to Enda Barron and I’ve been finding out about the players.
“There are some I recognise from playing in England, such as players at Hearts and Aberdeen.
“You have to do your research and learn about each player. For me, I’d be looking especially at wingers and left-backs who’d be bombing on.
“It’s a good thing. It’s a new challenge for me to come up against new players. There are a lot of good players in this league.”
Defender noting opponents weekly
And Johnson insists, even in Saturday’s 3-1 home defeat by Celtic, he was taking in the opposition’s considerable strength before he came on to replace Randall.
He said: “With Enda here at Ross County, we can look at the left-wingers and left-backs.
“He will talk to me about their strengths and weaknesses. We’ll be playing against these sides three or four times this season, so I’ll soon get to know them.
“Even in the first half against Celtic, I was watching on, looking at their wingers and it means next time we play Celtic you can take what you learn from watching into that game.
“It’s massively important, especially for me having moved from England.”
Healthy competition for places
With Randall sidelined for months, Johnson is keen to grasp his chance in the team, starting against the Buddies.
He added: “Connor and I get on well. I have known him when I was younger and I was at Middlesbrough. He’s a year older than me.
“We get on well and he’s helped me settle in. We both want to play in the team and it’s unfortunate he’s got an injury.
“Hopefully he’ll be back soon and we can push one another. Whoever is the best player will play – that’s the way football is.
“It’s never nice to see anyone injured, (but) it is part and parcel of the game.
“There is competition for every position. Every side in the country will have more than one player for each position.
“That’s good for the team, especially when you push one another. I’ve always had competition, but managed to play a lot of games in my career.”
Margin errors costly in league losses
County competed well against champions Celtic on Saturday, with Alex Iacovitti cancelling out Kyogo Furuhashi’s opener.
The game was in the balance before late goals from Moritz Jenz and Liel Abada took the Hoops on to victory.
County also impressed, mainly in the first half, against Hearts in their opening Premiership fixture of the new season, but came away from Edinburgh as 2-1 losers.
Johnson explained poring over the footage to learn from those marginal slip-ups can only sharpen them for the clash in Paisley.
He said: “It has come down to small margins. Celtic showed they are a top side and that’s the level we’re looking to get to.
“We’ve analysed our first two games, looking at what we did well and what we need to improve on.
“There were parts of the games where there were slight lapses in concentration as a team. If we can work on that, we will be able to push on and chase the top sides in the league.”
Saints will be tough test – Johnson
On paper, County will be expected to get at least a point from Paisley this weekend.
However, Johnson knows St Mirren will have enough quality within their group to make it a tricky 90 minutes.
He added: “You go into every game trying to win, but Celtic are the champions, while Hearts will expect to be a top-three side against this season.
“St Mirren will be a good team and it will be a difficult match and we’re not taking that for granted, but we know we’ve got to go there and try and win the game. That’s what we’re expecting to do.
“I have watched some of the sides who are not at the top end, such as St Mirren, but they still have top players and it will still be a tough test for us.
“There will be no easy games, everyone knows that, whether we play Celtic or St Mirren.”
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