I'm no fall guy, says penalty king

It has helped him to 18 league goals and put him just one behind Thierry Henry at the top of the Premiership's table of most prolific goalscorers.

England recognition has been a welcome by-product of Johnson's success, but the sneers he must be a diver have not been so happily received.

Birmingham manager Steve Bruce started the mud-slinging last weekend after his side were beaten 2-0 by Palace thanks to two penalties, one of which was won by Johnson.

"When he gets in the box, he does remarkably well at falling over," Bruce said. But the evidence suggests otherwise. If you analyse the penalties Johnson has been awarded, only one has left spectators mystified - against West Brom last October.

The 24-year-old striker stretched for a cross under pressure from defender Martin Albrechtsen and slid across the wet turf after failing to connect.

Referee Matt Messias probably thought Johnson's shirt had been pulled, but the striker made no appeal for a spot-kick. The other six he has won have been pretty clear cut. Indeed, Bruce is the first opposition manager to complain. But then he made his remarks after being jeered relentlessly by fans of his former club. And his team were defeated by two goals from a player he sold to Palace for just £750,000.

Johnson said: "I can't see any argument. I am not a diver. I think Bruce said that to get a reaction from me.

"I left Birmingham and have kept my mouth closed for three years, not said anything about the situation and I will continue to say nothing. I am not going to stoop to that level.

"It is not my fault Matthew Upson got the wrong side of me in the Birmingham game. The ball was played to me, I was about to shoot, he brought me down and it was a blatant penalty.

"There are so many more penalties I could have got this season which referees have not given. It is swings and roundabouts. You get some that are half-and-half, you don't get some that are blatant penalties."

Defenders argue Johnson is a clever player in the a rea but they don't claim he tries to con referees or plays for spotkicks.

Johnson's modest 5ft 7in frame allows him to turn quickly and he is not afraid to run at defenders or take them on in the penalty area.

Inevitably, that draws challenges and produces penalties.

His chances of success in the box have also been helped by his fitness, as he has missed only one Premiership game all season. Johnson, who has scored nine and missed two of the spot-kicks awarded to Palace this term, defended his record.

He said: "Seven of them I have got myself and I have been brought down when near enough one-on-one with the keeper. If I had not been fouled there would have been a chance I would have scored anyway."

If Johnson scores one more penalty this season, he will equal the Premie r --ship

record set by Alan Shearer 10 years ago. Four more and he will be level with Francis Lee, the former Manchester City striker who scored a record 13 league goals in 1971/72.

Lee said: "Johnson looks useful. If he is scoring goals in a struggling side he must be a good player.

"He may have a lot of penalties but you still have to score them. Palace have won a lot of them because of the pressure they create, and Johnson wins them because he is quick and direct.

"There is nothing worse for a defender than having someone run them at pace in the area."

Johnson practices his penalties the day before every game and today he was taking around 20 spot-kicks and deciding where to put his shot if he has to step up against United.

Manager Iain Dowie said: "Even in the warm-up he hits the ball with unbelievable power."

Dowie refutes the striker is a diver. He does not think the fact that half the player's goals have come from the spot hard with Johnson on the training ground, he also stuck by the striker when he missed two penalties in the first half of the season. The one against Charlton last December cost Palace at least a point as they lost to a late goal, but the manager knew he could bounce back.

After all, Johnson still wanted to take penalties despite one of the worst moments of his career - his costly miss in the Worthington Cup Final penalty shoot-out for Birmingham against Liverpool four years ago.

"That made me a stronger person," Johnson said. "I missed in front of 78,000 people at the Liverpool end. Once you have taken a

penalty there and missed, that is probably the worst of the worst."

Johnson admits he will be forced to consider his options if Palace are relegated to keep alive his dream of playing for England. "At this moment it would be hard to leave a gaffer like Iain," he said.

"Everyone is ambitious. If we go down I am going to want to play in the Premier League but my first thought will be it is my job to get the club straight back up if I am still here."

Palace will be without Aki Riihilahti (calf) tomorrow. Gary Neville (shin) is a doubt for United, but Rio Ferdinand (hamstring) is expected to return.

Dowie has vowed to "have a go" at United. His side are four points above the relegation zone as they embark on a daunting run of fixtures, starting with United and followed by games against Chelsea, Middlesbrough and Everton.
"It is a big game for us and we have to try to get something out of it," said Dowie.

"We are not going into it as underdogs. We are going to have a go at them. I'd rather lose having a go at them than get beaten 1-0 in the last minute."