Paceman Mitchell Johnson confident finger injury won't hamper him this summer Mitchell Johnson might be battling a finger injury but it hasn't stopped him from already wreacking havoc on batsmen. Australian bowler Mitchel Johnson in action against Pakistan. SPEARHEAD Mitchell Johnson injured Steve Smith in the nets at the WACA on Wednesday in a sure sign Australia's most influential player is ready to rumble for another summer on a scarily fast Perth wicket. However, it's a damaged finger of his own that has Australian cricket holding its collective breath. Johnson revealed he has a ligament and bone issue in the index finger on his bowling hand, which he had taped up on Wednesday following training. The left-armer is confident the injury won't hamper his workloads in this series against South Africa and in the Test series against India to come. However, given Johnson was literally the difference in last summer's Ashes whitewash and the resounding Test win in South Africa, any soreness to their No. 1 asset is a cause of concern to the Australian hierarchy. Since injuring himself before the first Test in the UAE in a catching drill, Johnson's niggling injury has been a closely guarded secret. Australia are firm favourites to beat India, but if Johnson was to be sidelined at any point, they would suddenly come back to the pack. And in the World Cup, Johnson is arguably the key for Australia creating history on home soil. Quite simply, Australia can't afford Johnson to go down. He's confident he won't. "I'm not sure what's going on with it," he said. I'm able to get through ... yesterday was a little bit sore. I haven't bowled in about a week and I've had it in a splint, so there's no dramas. It felt good today and I'm just continuing to keep playing. I've done something like this before on this finger. Johnson was far more concerned about batsman Smith - who he rapped on the glove during a willing net session. Smith is going head-to-head with George Bailey for a spot in the middle order against South Africa and looking ahead to the World Cup, and was able to bat on despite the obvious pain of the impact. Johnson said he half apologised to Smith, but won't be thinking twice about trying to hurt the South Africans come tomorrow. "Look I always go hard in the nets and try to make it as realistic as possible without trying to kill the batsman," said Johnson. I might not have said sorry, but I just made sure he's OK. I did get Davey Warner here a couple of years ago and felt pretty bad about it (Warner missed the one-dayer with a fracture). When I do bowl my short ball ... you have to practice the way you play. After the nightmare of last month's two-Test smashing at the hands of Pakistan in the desert, the sight of a red hot WACA wicket was like stumbling on a water supply for the Australians. Johnson bowled well under the circumstances in the UAE. But the prospect of him being primed to get Australia exploding out of the blocks on a fast wicket in Perth is the perfect tonic for Michael Clarke's side to turn things around and return to No. 1 in the world. Johnson watched WA teammate Jason Behrendorff destroy Queensland with a 10-wicket haul in the day-night Shield game earlier this week, and walked out of the WACA salivating. "It's nice to be home," said Johnson, who interestingly hasn't taken a wicket in his past three ODIs in Perth. It does give us confidence ... I feel really good within myself. Yesterday was a bit of an eye opener again just seeing how much pace and bounce there is. Seeing the ball flying around (in the Shield), I was quite excited. That was with the pink ball, but normally the white ball here can go through pretty quickly and swing nicely. Originally published as Fingers crossed over Johnson injury