Mitchell Johnson will aim to straighten out the kinks in both his head and action after being dropped from the Test team for the first time - but he will do it without leaving the squad. Johnson, 29, is staying in the Australian camp despite being the only man cut from the 13-man outfit for Friday's second Ashes Test.

At a sombre press conference that felt more like Johnson had suffered a career-ending injury than a dip in form, he vowed to fight his way back. "It's not the end of the world," he said, sitting below an honour board on which his 5 for 103 against West Indies last year was the latest bowling entry. "I've come back from stress fractures when I was younger, with Queensland."

Johnson, who went wicketless in Brisbane, said he was looking forward to getting away from the hype of the Ashes to start the rebuilding, but he will remain on the fringes as he is counselled by Nielsen and Troy Cooley, the bowling coach. After being the attack leader for the past two years, Johnson will watch as Peter Siddle and two of Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris start in Adelaide.

"In the last game I was trying to do all that work [on my action] during a game, which is obviously very hard to do," he said. "In the end, I need to work things out, go to net sessions, get back in the gym, get my head straight, and get back into the team."