Johnson has dismissed talk of getting involved with England in the near future

England suffered a fifth straight Test defeat against Australia in Melbourne.

"(Assistant coach) Brian Ashton only got to the team two days before the Barbarians game so you've got to give them a bit of time," Johnson said.

"The players are there, you've just got to get them all playing in the right sort of way."

With Ashton, John Wells and Mike Ford forming a new coaching team under Andy Robinson for the first time in Australia, Johnson believes the head coach's job is safe until next year's World Cup.

"They've made their changes so if it was going to happen, it would have happened," he said. "You've got to give them the year to build up to it.

They've got to get on with it and get the job done over the next 12 months Martin Johnson

"I think the autumn internationals will be very important, then the Six Nations. The team's just got to start winning and build their confidence and just start performing.

"They weren't accurate enough in the last three Six Nations games when they were losing, it was as simple as that.

"I think the players are there, there's just too many mistakes on the field. It doesn't take a rugby genius to work out that you're not going to win games if you're making mistakes."

Johnson has previously said he would be interested in a coaching role at some stage, but dismissed any prospect of getting involved with England in the near future.

"It's the wrong time and the wrong situation," he added.

"They've got their coaching set-up in place for [the World Cup] and they've got to get on with it and get the job done over the next 12 months."

Johnson was speaking in Beijing, where he is part of a Leicester delegation forging new links with Chinese rugby.