The Liverpool full-back had been sidelined with a hamstring problem which he admitted was "mentally depressing". He missed the start of Liverpool's season, aggravated the injury on his comeback against Stoke in September, before finally returning to action in a friendly against Rangers in mid-October. Fabio Capello restored him to his starting line-up against the World Cup holders and his former West Ham and Chelsea team-mate, Frank Lampard, clinched England's 1-0 win. Johnson said: "I've been out a long while and had some disappointing times with the injuries and stuff but hopefully that is behind me now and we can push on. "I tore my hamstring at the end of last season and then pretty much did it again in the same place pre-season. Then, when in rehab from that injury, I did the same thing again. "It was mentally depressing and very hard to stay positive and do the right things. "But we've got great physios at Liverpool and they helped me to stay positive." Johnson admitted: "I'm the worst I could be when I'm not playing. All I want to do is play football and it is frustrating. "Some days you have good days and think 'I'm getting there' and then the next day you have a bad day. It's a lot of ups and downs. "Hopefully that is all behind me now." Chris Smalling and Phil Jones were tried out at right-back during Johnson's three game absence from the England squad. When asked if he expected a recall, Johnson said: "I wasn't thinking of anything to be honest. I was just thinking about the injury and worrying about myself. "I'm confident in my own ability and the main objective at the time was to get back fit and now I'm fit. "Coming back and beating Spain is a good start. The lads held their ground very well on the edge of the box and we made it difficult for them. "It was a fantastic performance. Everyone put the effort in and we fully deserved the win." Johnson plays down the debate over whether Micah Richards - left out of the current squad - should be in the side ahead of him. He said: "It is not for me to say. In every position, you are going to get people who want other people to play. "That's the industry we are in and there is nothing you can do about that. "All I can do is worry about myself and take it from there." Johnson insists England had the belief that they could spring a surprise against Spain. He said: "The plan was to pretty much worry about ourselves and not be scared of them. They are world champions and a fantastic team. "But we knew if we could get about them, and not give them too much time on the ball, then we could upset them. "Towards the end they had a lot of the ball because the lads had run themselves into the ground a bit. But it was a good effort all around. "There is a lot of belief in the squad that we have got a lot of fantastic players. "The main problem is believing that really. We've had some fantastic results and the longer it goes on, the better."
