Johnson said he feared he was going to be dropped

Mitchell JohnsonLondon, Aug. 11 : With Australia handing out an innings and 80 run defeat to England to level the Ashes series one-all, a relaxed left arm fast bowler Mitchell Johnson revealed Tuesday that his performance in the Leeds Test was a career-saving one.

Johnson said that he feared being dropped and candidly admitted that he had failed to cope with the increased on the field expectations and the tensions related to his mother and his girlfriend.

The Australian pacer was put through the wringer in the past four weeks, being panned for his wild bowling and poor body language before bursting back to form in Sunday''s fourth Test win at Headingley.

Johnson fidgeted and looked a little emotional at times as he fielded questions at his first press conference since his bowling started veering out of control at Lord''s last month.

He denied it, but the public spat between his mother and fiancee clearly hadn''t helped him.

"It has been different for me, I have not been in this situation before with personal matters," said Johnson

"I go out there and play my cricket and you don''t want to have those things in the back of your mind so once I step out on that field it is all dead and buried."

His relationship with his mother was off limits.

"I would rather not talk about it to be honest," he said.

"My personal life is my personal life."

"When you are not going well and you start thinking a lot of different things and that (being dropped) was one of the things that probably popped up in my mind as well.

"Yeah definitely was in my mind at one stage."

"I think in the third Test at Edgbaston that was one of my goals was to pump the chest out and get a bit more involved in the game and I think that has definitely worked for me. I definitely have a lot more confidence and am just enjoying it a lot more now," he said. (ANI)