JACK Johnson says he is ready to “make it difficult” for head of coaching and rugby Tony Smith to leave him out of the Wolves side.

Johnson was one of a number of young players to impress Smith in Tuesday’s 28-18 friendly victory at Widnes having played 80 minutes at full-back.

The 20-year-old has already made four Super League appearances for The Wire but is now aiming to kick on and target a regular run in the side.

“That’s the aim this season for me, to keep pushing myself in training and perform well if I do get a run of games,” he said.

“There’s a lot of competition in there but I want to make it difficult for Tony not to pick me.

“The young lads feel as though we’ve had a good pre-season, we’re a tight group and we’re all looking to push on now and make things a bit harder for Tony when he picks the team.

“It’s good for all of us to mix in with the senior guys like Ashton Sims and Ryan Atkins, I certainly feel like I get better for every game I play with them.”

Johnson faces competition from the likes of Stefan Ratchford and Matty Russell for the full-back slot in the Wolves side.

However, with Ratchford injured until March and Russell still recovering from his Four Nations exploits with Scotland, Johnson was given his opportunity to impress on Tuesday and he says it was a good game to play in.

“We were a bit rusty at first and started off quite slowly. It took a while for us to build into the game but I thought we did well once we got going,” he said.

“Widnes came out really well and both teams wanted to win it. It was a competitive game and that’s what you want in pre-season.”