FC Goa travel to the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday to meet hosts Bengaluru FC in Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18. The Blues have opened up a five-point lead at the top of the table and are on the back of four consecutive victories. A win against the team who got the better of them when the both met earlier this season, would bring the table-toppers within touching distance of the playoffs. The 29-year-old John Johnson has been a mainstay in their defence since the club’s inception, and has kept things tight at the back in their debut season, as well. The Englishman spoke to indiansuperleague.com prior to the match and shared his thoughts regarding the season and more. Here are the excerpts.

Tell us a little bit about your journey with Bengaluru FC.

We have had a great journey, to be honest. The first time I came here was four or five years ago and it’s been a great journey for me as well. We’ve had a lot of success along the way. The club has moved forward every year and as long as we keep doing that, it will be fantastic for the club.

How different has been the experience of the Hero ISL from that of the Hero I-League?

I think everything has gone up a notch. The competitiveness of the opposition has gone up and the stadiums are better, as well. So, all in all, I think it’s a better league and it’s a bigger stage for the players to shine on.

How would you rate your team’s chances of making it to the playoffs?

I think we have the best chance of all teams. We are on top of the table and we are doing very well. We need to keep our focus, win our last few games, finish the season strongly and take it to the playoffs. So, hopefully, we can get that job done. That is our first goal. Then we can look forward to the next one. As far as the other teams go, there are still five or six of them fighting for the four spots. So, obviously, it’s between them. But, we just want to focus on ourselves and hopefully, we can cement that place in the semi-finals as soon as possible.

Tell us about your defensive partnership with Juanan.

He is a great player to play alongside. He is very composed, good on the ball, strong and aggressive. We have played together for two years now, so we’ve trained together every day. We know each other very well and it’s a good partnership. Also, the players around us help us a lot. So, we do a lot of work on the team’s shaping and obviously, you can see that in the games lately.

What are your thoughts about FC Goa and how do you think you will tackle their attack?

Obviously, Goa are a good footballing team. They are an attacking team. They are probably one of the best teams for playing good football. But, when we played them last time, we made a lot of mistakes, a lot of individual errors. We had a man sent off after 30 minutes, gave away a penalty and made some mistakes leading up to their goals. So, we’ll cover all the areas and if we focus on our own game, we’ll do well. Obviously, we’ll have to keep an eye on their key players because they have some very good players. But we sure will plan accordingly, and we look forward to the challenge.