Despite being one of Fabio Capello's favourites, the winger failed to make Roy Hodgson's 23-man squad for Euro 2012 – who cited his lack of match action in the Premier League as the main reason.

However, Maninci has dismissed that notion – instead insisting that Johnson would need to become more consistent if he is to feature for both club and country.

"Adam is in my plans. It's not my fault he didn't play at the Euros," he said, after watching Johnson score in the 3-1 victory over a Malaysia XI.

"For the national team manager, it's difficult to choose a final squad of 23 players. Adam is a very good player and probably deserved to go, because under Capello he played regularly.

"But Adam found himself in the same situation as Micah Richards, who is also a good player. Some players seem to think that when they don't play, it's the manager's fault.

"Adam is good enough to play at a top club, but he has to play at the highest level all the time, not sometimes up and sometimes down."