Bristol City boss wants more leadership from senior players
City's manager felt some of the team's more influential figures went missing during last weekend's 4-1 defeat at West Bromwich Albion.
Back-to-back home games against the Blades and Ipswich Town present an opportunity for the Robins to put their play-off quest back on track and Johnson is backing his side to bounce back in positive fashion.
But he insists a recovery will only be possible if City's star players step up to the plate and take responsibility.
"Some of them didn't do that at West Brom," said Johnson. "They were too timid and didn't do enough to affect the game.
"At 4-0 down on Saturday I was thinking I might need to go out and buy 24 players in January.
"We had some big names out there and they didn't do enough. It's not enough just to be out there on the pitch, they have to impose themselves and make a difference to the game.
"Too many of them were weak and I've had to get into them about that. They know they have to step up to the plate and affect the game."
He added: "When things are going well, we tend to have 11 leaders on the pitch. When things are going wrong, we lose our leaders.
"We need to either improve their leadership qualities or or bring in players who are natural leaders.
"We may be a relatively inexperienced Championship side still, but I was disappointed that the defenders did not sort things out at West Brom. We actually became worse after the first goal went in."
Although City's heaviest defeat in nearly two years is bound to knock confidence, Johnson believes his team has the character required to come back from adversity.
He admitted: "Losing 4-1 was a very disappointing way in which to surrender our seven-match unbeaten record and we have to learn from it and move on.
"There are some teams in the Championship, and West Brom are one of them, that will hurt you if you are not right on song and the boys have to realise why they were beaten like they were.
"But these lads have recovered before and they can do it again. It's good that we now have two home games coming up.
"We've done well at home this season and playing in front of our own supporters will give us the opportunity we need to bounce back."
City may have slipped to tenth in the table, but Johnson is refusing to abandon all hope of challenging for automatic promotion.
He said: "It's a big ask and a big gap to make up (on Newcastle and West Brom), but we must not give up on it.
"The lads have to keep believing in themselves and believe that it is still possible.
"Losing to West Brom was a poor 90 minutes in what is a very long season in the Championship and they must not let it affect them in a negative way."
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