OUT OF FAVOUR Brett Johnson has hailed the impact of new signing Pim Balkestein but has not given up on winning back a Dons first-team spot.
Balkestein arrived at Kingsmeadow on a month-long loan from Brentford at the start of March as boss Terry Brown looked to steer his side to League Two safety.
The 24-year-old Dutchman made an instant impression as his solid displays helped his new team to take maximum points in his first to games for the club.
Johnson, who has found himself out of the picture at AFC Wimbledon recently, has been impressed by his new defensive rival’s contributions so far.
However the Dons centre-half, a former Bee himself, insists he will not give up his first-team place without a fight and is ready to step into the breach.
“We’ve brought in Pim and he has been brilliant for us,” said Johnson. “He hasn’t played for a while but he has been imposing. I’ve just careful because I don’t know if they [Balkestein and Matt Mitchel-King] are carrying knocks.
“I’m always ready to come on. I’m trying hard in training to make sure I’m fit and ready to step in. Obviously Callum [McNaughton] has just come out so there is competition for that place and when an opportunity comes I’m ready to take it.”
Balkestein has won plaudits for his aerial dominance in the heart of the Dons backline and Johnson admits he is always looking to learn from new team-mates.
“You’re always learning off players,” he added. “Pim has got good attributes, he’s got a good presence, and good on the ball – everything that as a left-sided centre-halve you want to be like.
"Anything that he does that I haven’t been able to do, I can watch and take lessons off him and learn.”
Johnson was an unused substitute in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Bristol Rovers but thinks the Dons can take heart from their second-half performance at the Memorial Stadium.
He said: “We probably played better in the second-half today than in the two previous games which we won so it’s swings and roundabouts. I’m a bit gutted for the boys because the keeper pulled off some great saves.
“The pitch didn’t help but you can see the boys are starting to get points on the board and it’s just a shame we didn’t get any [on Saturday].”
