Both sides come into the game on the back of two impressive victories, with the Shaymen winning 2-0 away at sixth place Chorley and Salford beat Darlington 1883 convincingly 5-1 at home.
It’s a quick turnaround for the Shaymen and they will be looking to claim a fourth straight victory. Johnson will be looking for his fourth successive clean sheet, and his sixth in just seven games, with AFC Fylde being the only side to have found Johnson’s net since Kidderminster over a month ago. Johnson revealed that the boys are full of confidence going into Wednesday given the recent results…
“I have kept a lot of clean sheets recently as well and the gaffer said before the game that we’ve got to keep the momentum going into the play-offs. I think it’s filled us with confidence especially with the clean sheets for the side.”
The sides have played out two fantastic games at both the Shay and Moor Lane, with Billy Heath’s side unbeaten, picking up a point away from home and a memorable 4-2 victory at home. The on-loan goalkeeper knows of Salford’s presence and will be hoping the lads can pick up something from the first leg…
“I wasn’t there for the first game but from what I saw when I played against them they are certainly a good team and we’ve got to be at our best to really get anything out of it. In a way, it’s two legs so we’ve got to hope to get a good result on Wednesday and take them back to the Shay and hopefully do the business there.”
It’s always a bonus playing the away leg first and taking the side back for the second leg. That’s exactly what the Shaymen will do against the Ammies after finishing third, Sam knows of the importance this brings…
“It’s very important especially if we get a good result away we can certainly mount the pressure on them when they come here, hopefully we can get the result we need.”
The Shaymen faithful have been in fine voice throughout the season from Nuneaton back in August to Chorley last weekend. The allocation of 600 sold very quickly and Johnson knows that this will give the side an extra boost going into the match on Wednesday…
“Certainly, in the last six or seven away games, from FC United and Kidderminster all the way through to Harrogate and Saturday at Chorley made a massive difference. I think out fortune showed that and the results have been fantastic, especially away on the road. Hopefully they can get behind us and we can give them something to shout about on Wednesday.”
The nerves of the play-offs tend to affect players prior to the match and on the pitch, but Johnson doesn’t feel the pressure and is ready to go, full of confidence ahead of the first leg…
“I feel good, feeling confident. Like I said we’ve been playing well recently. Personally, from my point of view I’m full of confidence going into Wednesday.”
FC Halifax Town travel to Salford for the first leg of the play-offs on Wednesday 3rd May, with kick off scheduled for 7:45pm.
You can catch all the build-up and live match commentary on Shaymen Player HD from 7:30pm, as well as full match updates on the Shaymen Wall and our official Twitter feed @FCHTOnline.
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