The days of jumpers-for-goalposts may be long behind him, but despite carrying the burden of an £8m transfer fee, Manchester City's Adam Johnson says he attempts to bring the youthful enthusiasm of his schooldays to his Premier League performances.

"You have got to enjoy playing," he said. "I try to play like I am still on the school playground."

With his second-half cameo against Hull at the weekend, and his man-of-the-match performance in the victory over Bolton on Tuesday night, Johnson has made an instant impact at Eastlands following his deadline-day move from Middlesbrough.

"It is a dream for me to play here and it obviously still feels a bit weird," said the 22-year-old winger. "But I like it here, especially the nice, big pitch that has so much width to allow me to get at defenders."

Johnson's seamless transition into the City squad bodes well for Roberto Mancini's side. They next take on Stoke in the league and FA Cup and then face a potentially season-defining run of matches against Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham.

"This month is crucial," said Mancini. "After the FA Cup match we have a difficult away game at Stoke. Then we have three big games when we will see if we can get into the top four or not."

The one major plus for City is the form of Emmanuel Adebayor. The Togo striker has been in fine form since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations and the tragedy that struck the Togo team, when three members of their party were killed by gunmen in Angola.

"I have to play for the people who passed away now – every time you put the shirt on, you have to be scoring for them," said Adebayor. "I love scoring goals but whenever I do now, I say 'yes, you are scoring goals – you could be in a coffin now, you could be in Paradise'. It's very hard."