 Johnson finished the 2007–08 season with three goals.Johnson started the 2008–09 season in good form, linking well with players such as Stephen Ireland and Elano in the first few matches of the season, however after this, Johnson failed to feature for nearly a year due to a recurrence of his abdominal injury after City's League Cup defeat by Brighton & Hove Albion on 24 September 2008.He would not return for nearly seven months when he played for the reserve team in April, but Johnson would not feature for the first team until the following pre-season.