Glen Johnson adamant Manchester City won't miss striker Mario Balotelli

Liverpool defender Glen Johnson is adamant that Manchester City won't miss striker Mario Balotelli following his move to AC Milan.

Balotelli endured a difficult time at City with several high profile incidents, including a training ground bust-up with manager Roberto Mancini, overshadowing his performances on the pitch.

"No, I don't think City will miss ­Balotelli," Johnson told The Mirror. "They have got some fantastic players and they've got a lot of players who will score a lot more goals than Mario did. I'm sure they won't miss him too much.

"I'm not being disrespectful to the guy, everyone in the country knows what he's like. On his day he can be a great player, but City have got other great players who do it a lot more often and score more goals than him.

"Mario winds himself up, you don't need to do too much as an opposition defender. We all have our faults, but Mario let his side down with silly red cards and stuff like that. He's a great player, but we didn't see that enough."

Liverpool and Manchester City face off at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday with the latter looking to close the gap on rivals Manchester United in the title race.