Tim Nielsen has backed Australia's under-fire fast bowler Mitchell Johnson to recover from a disappointing first Test with some help from the team management.

Nielsen admitted that the strike bowler had struggled in the opening clash of the Ashes, in which he recorded match figures of none for 170, and said it was the coaching unit's job to get Johnson's bowling back on an upward curve.

The backlash in Australia to Johnson's performance has been heavy. Commentator Ian Chappell called on the selectors to drop Johnson, while one newspaper reporter wrote that the left-armer "should concern himself less with Movember moustaches and the next tattoo and more with taking a wicket".

Naturally coach Nielsen was eager to step in and stand up for Johnson, who is seen as key to Australia regaining the Ashes.

"He didn't have his best game, but 11 wickets in the Test match for both groups says it's hard work to me," Nielsen said.

"He didn't bowl as well as he would have liked, and that's our job over the next couple of days to make sure we get him back up and going.

"At different times there have been a lot of players who haven't performed in one Test match and then have come out and upped the ante. That's the challenge of a five-day Test.

"We all identify that he didn't have the best game. But there were times when we let it get away - not as an individual but as a bowling group - and when that happens, one guy usually gets exposed, and Mitch is the one we're talking about.

"Throughout his career, he's had his ups and downs but there's not an international who hasn't gone the long-term without ups and downs. Mitch is no different. But we need to address that tomorrow morning, and find way a way to attack the English team and take 20 wickets."

A large part of Johnson's problem is seen to be mental, given his tendency to spray the ball around when things aren't going his way.

Although he went into the first Test with the confidence boost of a five-wicket haul for Western Australia against Victoria, by day five his disintegration seemed complete when he fired a delivery so far down the leg side that second leg slip would have struggled to collect it.

"That exposes the difference between international and domestic cricket and it's something we have to deal with these players every day of the week," said Nielsen.

"We've got to make sure Mitch is relaxed and thinking clearly about what works for him. We know he prepared well but that doesn't guarantee anything. There's a couple of little things we can work on, we can make sure we jump around the bowling group and each other, and make sure he's in as good a place as he can be. He's taken 160 Test wickets so he's good at this game."

The English press were quick to claim that Andrew Strauss' side came out of the Brisbane clash with greater credit after racking up a string of records on the final day, but Nielsen is unwilling to cede that ground.

"I look up on the scoreboard and see a draw," he said. "They played well, but in the end nobody won. It's 0-0 and we turn up on Friday and start again."