Blues' spirit of 'no surrender' True grit is exemplified by inspirational Johnson.

Byline: Colin Tattum

YOU can imagine Roger Johnson in that famous scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail as the Black Knight, guarding the bridge and refusing to budge despite having both arms chopped off by King Arthur.

"It's just a flesh wound,'' he (John Cleese) insists, accusing King Arthur of being a "chicken" for not wanting to fight on.

He's of the old breed of centrehalf, is Johnson, Blues' Black Knight.

With 11 minutes left and Blues having to protect their lead against an increasingly urgent and desperate Fulham side, Johnson was signalled to the bench. His number was held up, his mobility was not right because of a bash to the leg.

Johnson trudged over to the dugouts then did his own "just a flesh wound" routine - he decided he wasn't coming off after all.

Lee Carsley put his tracksuit back on again, Alex McLeish held his arms out wide open. Boss overruled, substitution scrubbed. Probably, deep down, Big Eck saw a bit of his old stubborn, craggy self as a player in Johnson and welcomed such pluck.

So Johnson carried on getting stuck into tackles, leaping for headers and putting himself on the line, alongside his impressively disciplined and determined teammates, to ensure Blues saw the game out and clinched an important victory on an awfully wet and windy afternoon.

It's not the first time, either, that Johnson has showed a high resistance to pain for the cause. He was stretchered off after taking the full force of a shot and then a followthrough knee to the chest and windpipe against Manchester City, but popped back up after a few minutes to resume hostilities in the thick of it.

As all was well that ended well, Johnson was vindicated. He knows his own body and had he felt he was putting Blues at risk - even though he did hobble about somewhat - he would not have continued. But undeniably he has that warrior mentality, like a Tony Adams, the sort that marks him down as a future Blues captain.

Every team needs one of these galvanising types, especially at centre-half, and the eventual pounds 5 million Blues will end up paying Cardiff City for him increasingly looks like money well spent.

The clean sheet earned was Blues' fifth of the season - they only managed three all told last time in the Premier League - and only leaders Chelsea are currently meaner.

And on a day like Saturday, it was all about such endeavour to beat the opponents and make light of and adapt to the conditions.

The best move of the match brought the goal, delicately taken by Lee Bowyer, who timed his run beyond the defence perfectly to nudge James McFadden's pass beyond Mark Schwarzer.

That was in the 16th minute of a first half that was evenly balanced. The slippery surface made it diffi-cult for players to check their momentum and keep possession for considered periods.

After the interval, Fulham perked up and enjoyed a lot of the ball, but never did they really penetrate or pick their way through Blues at will. They reminded you of Tony Mowbray's Albion - all pass, pamper, but no pain. Blues hardly threatened yet this was all about the result in the circumstances.

Fulham were hurried along by Blues, who always got into the right holes as a compact unit and were much more feisty in the challenge.

Bowyer's combative cleverness was clear and Stephen Carr's reading of the game, the way he was so alert to danger, was admirable.

Blues' front pair didn't really get going, then again not many players or combinations did, such was it a match for galoshes rather than goshes.

A few years back, this game probably wouldn't have been completed.

The St Andrew's turf would have been too saturated and boggy from all the rain.

But this new pitch, laid in the summer as part of the "ten-point pledge", is absolutely perfect and played so surely, despite the nonstop deluge.

It encourages the passing style McLeish is implementing and just goes to show that, given the proper investment and tools to do the job, head groundsman Martin Kelly and his crew can turn out a surface fit for any stadium, anywhere.

Joe Hart made one fine tip-over save in the second half from Clint Dempsey's header yet there was not much else that troubled Blues.

Roy Hodgson strangely waited until the 74th minute to make a change, taking off Stephen Kelly on his return to St Andrew's and sending Damien Duff into action.

Imagine had the roles been reversed and he was McLeish ... tin hats or what? McLeish had, in fact, beaten him to it, withdrawing the low-key Christian Benitez to shore up the middle with five men.

Blues lost an avenue going forward but made it tougher for Fulham and, as a judgment call, and considering Johnson's ailment, it was practical and fair as there was such a sureness, such a knowledge about the team and what they had to do.

There will be games that are more pleasing on the eye, played out in better weather against sides who are not as good as Fulham.

This was, though, the sort that keeps you in the Premier League and the sort that Blues would have transpired to have drawn, if not lost, two years back.

CAPTION(S):

Crunch: Roger Johnson makes life uncomfortable for Fulham's Bobby Zamora. Pictures: Trevor Roberts Up and over: Lee Bowyer lifts the ball over Mark Schwarzer to score the winner for Blues.