Wanderers, who went into the game lying bottom of the Barclays Premier League, took the lead in the 22nd minute when Steven Fletcher headed in a cross from skipper Karl Henry. Johnson made it 1-1 with 10 minutes to go, though, the former Everton striker dispatching the ball beyond Wayne Hennessey just seconds after coming on as a substitute.
It was a blow to the hosts' bid for survival, but, with five games left to play, McCarthy said: "Everybody is predicting what it is or isn't going to take. I predict maybe one point or one goal better off than three others - and we can still do it."
He added: "Every point is hard to get - Fulham are a good side. I think other teams could have gone on and got beaten in that game having conceded how we did and that late on.
"But we haven't, so we'll take the point, take the positives and keep going with five more games to play. There will be no defeatists here or negativity at all."
McCarthy played down suggestions he had set a target of nine more points from the run-in.
"Three wins would be lovely, but I'm not so sure it will take that," he said.
"You tell me all the teams out of the bottom three that are going to get those two or three wins, and where they are going to come from.
"I don't know, so I'm not going to put pressure on our lot by saying we need three wins.
"We don't - we just need one point more than three others. Who knows where that will come from, but I still think we will get it."
Source: PA
Source: PA