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Patrick Vieira has backed Michael Johnson to bounce back from his two-year injury nightmare at Manchester City.
But the veteran Blues midfielder has also warned the youngster that he doesn’t intend stepping aside in the battle for midfield places.
Johnson is expected to return to full training this week – after a toe injury extended a long, hard rehabilitation from the cruciate ligament damage he suffered last season.
Vieira says that Johnson, who alarmed City fans by looking overweight in the summer of 2009, is now the hardest-working player at the club.
And he feels that dedication will pay off – and Johnson will soon be challenging for a place in the City team, and even re-kindling thoughts of an England future.
“I have been at the club and seen him working every day, and when someone works that hard, I am sure he will be successful,” said Vieira.
“I hope for him, for City and English football that he does get back to his best.
“He is a really good player – a talented English player – and it’s good for English football. The future looks bright for him. His determination will bring him back to his best. He is working harder than anyone else, and he is still young so he has time to come back.”
Johnson’s recent history has been an interminable round of injury, setback and further injury. More heads were being shaken last week when an expected return to contact training was delayed as a precaution.
It is hoped he will make his comeback for the elite development squad later this month.
Addition
There now appears to be light at the end of the tunnel, and Johnson would be a welcome addition to a central midfield are which has lacked dynamism at times this season.
Not that Vieira intends to be shunted aside in the fight for a place. The 34-year-old has mainly featured in Europa League and Carling Cup games this season, and last month hinted that he may hang up his boots at the end of the season.
That had Arsenal on alert, as Arsene Wenger fancies taking the Gunners great on to his coaching staff – while Roberto Mancini would also like to retain Vieira’s experience and expertise.
But Vieira now says he is keeping his options open, and after suffering a few injury problems towards the end of his Inter Milan career, and at the beginning of his move to Eastlands, adds he is now feeling in great condition.
Vieira is expected to start in Thursday night’s Europa League clash with Lech Poznan in Poland, with Nigel de Jong still missing with a hamstring injury.
But Vieira remains positive about the future and is hell-bent on reclaiming his place, despite intense competition from de Jong and Yaya Toure.
The World Cup winner was brought in during the January transfer window as much for the authority and know-how he would bring to the club as the playing qualities he would bring to the squad.
And he is one of the anchors City will look to as a whirlwind of criticism blows through the club, with the Frenchman a constant supporter of Mancini’s rotation policy, even though he has been a victim of it more than most.
“My only focus at the moment is to help City to win silverware, to bring my experience and do what I can do on the pitch,” said Vieira.
“I would like to play more because I feel really good, but I know selection is really difficult and after that we will see what can happen. But the door is open for everything.
“As a player it is important to fix yourself a target and my personal target is to play in as many games as I can.
“I am determined and I’m working hard every day to show the manager that he can come to me whenever he needs me.”
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