Portsmouth defender makes it clear just what's on line against Swindon Town and Bristol Rovers this week

Pompey have been told they are entering a potentially make-or-break week for their season.
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Callum Johnson believes the next two games could define his side’s play-off fate this term.

Danny Cowley’s side fell out of the play-offs on Saturday night after the 1-0 defeat at MK Dons.

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The Blues can regain that spot as they go to crisis club Swindon Town on Tuesday night.

That’s the start of two games against the division’s bottom two sides over the next week.

Johnson is making no attempt to play down the significance of the clashes to Pompey hopes this season.

He said: ‘It’s an absolutely massive week we have coming up now.

Callum Johnson (Photo by Daniel Chesterton/phcimages.com)Callum Johnson (Photo by Daniel Chesterton/phcimages.com)
Callum Johnson (Photo by Daniel Chesterton/phcimages.com)
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‘We have to regroup, go again and go for that positive result on Tuesday.

‘We just have to stick together and look how we can create better chances.

‘Then when we do that we just need one to come off then we’ll be off and running.

‘It can be a snowball effect and we will build some momentum in the last five games.

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‘There’s not long left and it’s the business end of the season.

‘The defeat is really disappointing, but there’s still five games left and we absolutely have to take those opportunities starting on Tuesday.’

Pompey find themselves on 65 points with five games now remaining of the regular season.

That’s 9.5 points off the average total needed to make the League One play-offs over the past 20 seasons.

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Johnson wants a minimum four maximums before the end of the campaign.

He added: ‘I’m not a betting man, but if we win all five games we’ll get there.

‘We’ve got to win four or five games.

‘We’ve got to aim to win them all and give it a real good game.

‘We’re in a battle to be in the play-offs so we need to be hard and hard to play against. I think we’ll do that.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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