Manchester City’s Adam Johnson desperate for more playing time

Adam Johnson has admitted his frustration at the lack of first-team opportunities at Manchester City this season.

The 24-year-old has started just five Premier League games, despite scoring five goals and helping Roberto Mancini’s side set-up a Carling Cup semi-final clash against Liverpool.

Johnson’s strike against Stoke City on Wednesday helped the Eastlands outfit stay top of the table after the winger completed a full league game for the first time in two months – but the England international admits he is desperate to secure more playing time.

“I’ve been awfully disappointed that I haven’t played as many games,” he said. “Everyone wants to play in all the games and I was thinking about speaking to the manager because I hadn’t started since the Carling Cup.

“It plays on my mind a bit. I don’t mind the rotation system as long as it’s fair. Hopefully that’s going to continue now. I’ve scored five goals in five starts. That’s all I can keep doing.”

Johnson made his England debut during a 3-1 victory over Mexico at Wembley last year and has since earned a further eight caps with the national side.

However, Johnson believes his chances of being part of Fabio Capello’s 23-man squad for next summer’s European Championship will remain in doubt while he continues to struggle to break into City’s first-team.

“I was speaking to my dad about that,” he continued. “It is in the back of my mind because I know Fabio Capello likes players to be playing every week. It’s a major thing for me, to try to go there, having missed out on the World Cup.

“I want to play in these major tournaments. I don’t think I’ve missed a squad under Capello, apart from when I was injured, so I would be gutted to miss out after playing quite a big part in the campaign.

“Obviously there’s a lot of competition, so I want to try to play week in and week out and definitely have a place on that plane.”