Johnson, 32, refused to support calls to send Akermanis to Williamstown for a week and says the former Lion's recent performances have been solid.
"I think he's played well in patches, and the turnaround on the weekend in his second half was great," Johnson said on Wednesday.
"He sacrificed himself against Sydney to go back into defence at the start of the game and play a role for us, and he understands that to play in the side, you've got to play a number of different roles.
"He did a fantastic job in the second half on Brent Harvey, who's in red hot form, and hopefully that's the turn of things.
"We'll throw him forward this weekend, hopefully, and he can snare a few goals against his old team."
Johnson also refused to enter into a war of words between former teammate Luke Darcy and Akermanis, after Darcy told radio station SEN that the flamboyant forward needed to be dropped.
Akermanis then responded in his weekly Herald Sun column with the claim, "[Darcy] was probably lucky to have a spot at times last year, coming back from knee reconstructions".
"I haven't read anything about that, and I'm certainly not going to make any comment about it," Johnson said.
The Bulldogs' skipper said he wasn't finding it challenging to motivate himself or the group in the final month of the home-and-away season, despite the fact his side was locked into a top-three finish regardless of results.
"It's a pretty long season anyway, and you endeavour to strive for every single week and you're going to have some guys that are going to fluctuate throughout the season," he said.
"That's just the way it rolls. It is hard to stay up for 22 weeks, and we've had some guys right through the whole season that have ebbed and flowed in regards to form.
"We're certainly looking to have everyone getting their form back right in the next couple of weeks leading into some finals footy."
Johnson also said the Bulldogs will travel north this weekend full of confidence having beaten the Lions the past five times they've played– with three of those triumphs at the Gabba.
"We've got a pretty good record against Brisbane, but they'll be super keen to fight for their spot in the eight and we understand that," he said.
"We'll certainly be keen to get back with some winning form, so you'll see a pretty tough contest, I'd suggest, and one than we're really looking forward to.
"It certainly holds no fears for us to go up there and give them a good contest."
