By Micah Richards Manchester City and England defender

I am not surprised my Manchester City team-mate Michael Johnson has been getting so much praise recently - his performances speak for themselves.

Everyone can see he is a class player and, with hard work in the next couple of years, he is capable of just about anything.

Everyone can see Johnno is a class player and, with hard work in the next couple of years, he is capable of just about anything

He has been playing for England Under-21s but his aim has got to be the senior team.

Obviously it is not going to be easy with the likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Owen Hargreaves and Gareth Barry in his position.

But he is still only young and, in time, I believe he will play in centre midfield for England.

It has definitely helped Johnno having Didi Hamann playing alongside him for City.

I don't think Didi has had enough credit this season. He has been one of our best players and he is very under-rated.

He and Johnno are a good team. Obviously Didi has not got the legs that he used to have to get up and down - so that's what Johnno does, while Didi just cleans things up.

Johnno coming through the ranks is great for the club and Tuesday's Carling Cup win over Norwich was another good day for City's academy.

I didn't play but I was at the game - I've got a box at the ground now so me, my brothers, my cousins and my agent went down to watch it.

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I'd prefer to play, but it is good the manager is giving youngsters their chance with Kelvin Etuhu and Ched Evans making their debuts and Shal Logan enjoying his home bow.

It means 25 players have come through City's academy to play for the first team since it was set up in 1998, which is pretty impressive.

I was bit disappointed that Ashley Grimes wasn't in the squad though because I rate him very highly, but I am sure his chance will come soon.

I joined City's academy when I was 14 - I left Oldham to come here.

I was going to go to City when I was about 11 but Oldham was only about 30 minutes drive away from where I lived in Leeds and my dad thought it would be easier for me at that age to get there from school.

When I was a bit older my dad thought it would be a bit of a challenge for me to go to City and make a bit of a step-up.

Allen moved from Oldham to Man City at the same time as Richards

There was a guy called Danny Allen who moved to City from Oldham at the same time but he got released when he was 18 unfortunately.

I know people often make this excuse, but it was down to a bad hip injury he had - he was a good player. He is with FC United in the UniBond League now.

When I joined City I was still living in Leeds. I trained on Tuesday and Thursday nights and played on Saturdays.

I finished school at 3.30pm and training was 6pm so I pretty much had to leave straight from school because the traffic was a bit of a joke.

I wouldn't get home until late either. There was so much travelling and it was quite tiring.

My friends were doing other things - school discos and things like that! - so it was a bit annoying at times but it has paid off now so it was worth it.

When I was 16 and left school I went to live in digs in Stockport. To be honest I just wanted to come here and give football a go.

When I came on for my debut against Arsenal I went up front - I had a shot which hit the corner flag!

I was living with Ashley Williams at first, then he moved out and it was me and Karl Moore. Both of them are still with City by the way.

When we all got together the lads would be clowning around and wanting to go out but that is just normal. Everyone goes through it but at the end of the day you have to focus on your football.

In my first season at the academy I was working with Frankie Bunn, who is now at Coventry City.

He was quite firm with me, but not for no reason. He wanted me to improve and be the best player I could be and he demanded 100%.

I used to get advice about my diet too - we were told that the best players are the ones that prepare themselves right - and it is true.

At that age when your coaches are telling you stuff like that it goes in one ear and out the other but if you actually listen and take into consideration what they're saying you realise they are right.

The actual training itself was quite technical, with a lot of five-a-sides and skill drills.

Being in an academy is a bit different to how it used to be as an apprentice at a club - thank God! - we didn't have to clean any of the first team players' boots or anything like that.

I was based at Platt Lane up until this point, it was only when I was 17 that I started training with the first team at Carrington. At the same time I moved out of digs and bought a house in Stockton Heath.

It was quite strange to be training with the senior players but, once I got used to it, I started to benefit.

My debut at Arsenal only came about because Nedum Onuoha was injured. I had been in squads before but that was the first time I had made the bench.

I remember during the game I was told I was going to get on and my heart was just beating like crazy.

Being an Arsenal fan, to make my City debut at Highbury was a great feeling and, at the time, it was the most memorable day of my life.

When I came on I actually went up front though, which is not my best position. I did have a shot but unfortunately it hit the corner flag, which wasn't quite so memorable!

Football Focus: Micah Richards in the ring with Ricky Hatton

By Micah Richards Manchester City and England defender

Some of the football we played in our win against Newcastle last week was just amazing.

Considering we didn't have a manager until a month before the season started, and that we have only been training together for two or three months, the team has settled in really quickly.

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I've been really impressed by all of Sven Goran-Eriksson's signings. They are all good characters and this is how I rate them:

His skill and tricks in training are just ridiculously good.

Once he gets to know the league, the teams and the players he should get even better Micah on Elano

He and Stevie Ireland are probably battling as to who has the best tricks and, if you put those two on the same team in training, then there is only one team that is going to win - I just demand to be on their side!

When I heard Elano was coming here I thought 'how the hell did we get him so quickly!?'.

I knew he had great ability but he is not just a good player, he is a nice guy too.

He is a feisty character off the pitch and he likes having a laugh. The rest of the players love him and he is someone we all want around the camp.

He is not fluent in English yet but he still likes to get involved in banter with the boys and that is what I like about him.

Sometimes it takes players a while to adjust to the Premier League but Elano has fitted in already and once he gets to know the league, the teams and the players he should get even better.

Martin is a lively character as well, only he speaks a bit better English.

Him, Elano and Geovanni are all the same - just jokers really. But once it is time to be serious on a Saturday they can do the business as well.

I don't think many people have noticed how well Vedran and Javier have slotted in at full-back - it is like they have been playing here for years.

Vedran is just like a Rolls Royce - he is so calm and never seems to break sweat.

Jav knows what he is doing too. He is not a shy guy and he has fitted straight in.

He chills with us before training but when he goes out at the weekend it is with his boys from Spain - Ivan Campo and the Alonso brothers, Mikel and Xabi.

Roland is so composed in training. He has a great touch and great technique - a typical Italian really.

He was a bit louder when Bernardo Corradi was here and has quietened down since he joined Parma on loan.

He still mingles with the rest of the players but he was a bit disappointed when Corradi left because they used to go out for dinner and spend a lot of time together.

A class player.

Geo is always smiling even when he is not in our starting line-up. He is great because you know you can bring him on and he will get the party tricks out. He is not afraid to try things either.

I haven't seen him since his injury, which was a real blow for him but, from what I saw before then, he will be a very good player for us when he is fit.

You could give the ball to him in training and it would be 'one touch, two touch, three touch - goal!' What I liked most about him was that he knows where the net is.

Gelson is like a smaller version of Patrick Vieira - he doesn't stop running and he puts his tackles in too.

He speaks five languages, so he is an intelligent boy. He has got to be the cleverest player at the club, even more so than Nedum Onuoha.

Whenever you want to know something you go to Ned - even when he is wrong it sounds impressive because he always sounds as though he knows what he is talking about.

But with Gel here he has to make sure he gets things right.

By Micah Richards Manchester City and England defender

Wednesday's defeat in Russia was a massive disappointment for me and the rest of the England team.

It is so frustrating that qualification for the Euro 2008 finals is out of our hands after we had worked so hard to get our campaign back on track with five successive 3-0 wins.

It was gutting at the final whistle and I am hurting right now but this is where we have to show a strong character

Everyone was really down after the game and on the plane home on Wednesday night.

But the players have all stuck together. We didn't blame anyone for the goals we conceded. It is a team game and we all gave 100%.

Everything went wrong for us so quickly on the night. Russia had a good spell for five minutes and scored their two goals.

People are now saying England are not good enough but it was a hard game to play in and, apart from those five minutes, you cannot really blame us that much.

I am not going to use the artificial pitch as an excuse but I am not going to lie either - it made a difference.

Shaun Wright-Phillips and I were not our usual selves on the right - we tried to link up in the first five minutes when I went on a run and tried knocking the ball in front of me but it just stopped dead.

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We knew what to expect because we had played on it before but it was quite hard taking on a player with pace and using that side of my game.

The end result was so frustrating because we know that if we could have finished the chances that myself and Steve Gerrard had then it would have been a different story - but that is the thin line between winning and losing.

It was gutting at the final whistle and I am hurting right now but this is where we have to show a strong character.

At the end Steve McClaren just said to us 'stick together, we are not out yet.'

He has given us the belief that we can do it - that we can beat Croatia and other results will go our way - and it is not impossible. I was a bit disheartened on Wednesday but you have to keep believing.

It would be a big blow to miss out on the finals - everyone wants to play in them, same as you want to play in a World Cup.

But it is not over yet. Hopefully we can still qualify - there is not much more I can say, other than hope and pray.

I have said on numerous occasions I am happy at City. One day I hope to captain them and hopefully I will sign a new contract here very very soon

I have got to concentrate on Manchester City's game against Birmingham on Saturday now - and, while I am here, I would like to clear up some of the speculation about my future.

It was reported last week that I am keen to play for Arsenal soon but whoever is writing that is making up stories. It was based on something I said a long time ago.

As a young player someone is always waiting for you to slip up and say the wrong thing.

I still don't think I've done that yet. As I have told you in this column I have always been an Arsenal fan - I can't help that!

I have said on numerous occasions I am happy at City. One day I hope to captain them and hopefully I will sign a new contract here very soon.

I know I have been saying that for a couple of weeks but it is just down to the finer details now and hopefully, sooner rather than later, it will be done and dusted.

It is frustrating to have lots of stories around about my contract and things like buy-out clauses - which are total rubbish - but I know the truth and that is all that matters to me.

Sounds good about the new deal. He sounds gutted England didnt win. I think its mostly the fact he knows they basically arent going to qualify now.