Sven Goran Eriksson has hinted that Michael Johnson could make his Manchester City first-team return against Everton.

The talented midfielder played 45 minutes of a reserve game against Newcastle last week - his first appearance since the Carling Cup quarter-final defeat by Tottenham on December 18 - but was not risked for the second string on Tuesday in a Ponting’s fixture.

The 19-year-old is making good progress in training and Eriksson revealed yesterday he could feature in the crucial Premiership game against David Moyes’ men on Monday.

“I hope so, we’ll wait and see either on Thursday or Friday but he is training,” Eriksson told the club’s official website.

“He had some slight pain on Monday but today he looked good again.”