Manchester City’s Adam Johnson: Missing out on England’s World Cup squad was a blessing in disguise

Adam Johnson in action for Manchester City against Leicester City (Getty images)

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Manchester City winger Adam Johnson says that being overlooked for England‘s World Cup squad last summer has encouraged him to up his game.

Johnson made a late surge into the England reckoning and was included in Fabio Capello’s provisional 30-man squad for South Africa in 2010 but was among seven of that party cut before the tournament.

The 23-year-old told reporters: “I was really disappointed last summer to miss out on the World Cup finals.

“I thought I was in good form after moving from Middlesbrough four months earlier.

“Maybe in hindsight, it was a blessing in disguise for me, a bit too soon after coming out of the Championship.

“But it has certainly helped me drive myself on even more.”

Since World Cup rejection, Johnson has forced his way into the England reckoning, making his first international start against Hungary in the team’s first match after their poor showing in South Africa.

He continued: “It made me think ‘I’m going to come back and try even harder’, that sort of thing. That’s why I got my head down. I’ve got to make up for a bit of lost time.

“I’ve got to wait another three years for a World Cup now but we want to get to the European Championships.”

Johnson was speaking ahead of England’s Group G qualifying match against Switzerland on Saturday, in which he is likely to play a part.

Despite opening his international scoring account this season with goals against Bulgaria and Switzerland, Johnson is not yet an automatic starter at his club, but he says he is looking forward to being part of City’s upcoming Champions League push.

“The Champions League is the best club competition in the world and hopefully we can go quite a long way,” he said.

“We’ve finished third in the Premier League and missed out on the qualifying stages which is brilliant for us and we go into the season knowing we are already in the group stages.

“Hopefully we can qualify from that group and goodness knows where we can go from there.”

Johnson was also keen to point out how much he has progressed as an all-round player since this time last year.

“I’ve scored a few goals this season and important ones. I’ve been trying to create goals,” he added.

“But improving the defensive side of things has helped me play more games.

“People know that I’m going to work hard to get back and track the full-backs.

“If that’s what I’ve got to do to stay in the team, I’m prepared to do that.”