Eddie Johnson is banking on a goal-scoring spree for City this season and the confident striker is even willing to put his money where his mouth is.

The summer recruit from Manchester United has not set himself a specific goal target, he just wants lots of them.

"My aim is just to score as many as I can and the only target I've got is to try and score in every game," he said.

"My plan is to chip in with the goals alongside Deano (Dean Windass) and maybe we could have a little competition to see how many we can get."

City have been crying out for competition for Windass in recent seasons. The 37-year-old has hit the 20-goal mark for the past two years but none of his team-mates have gone close to making double figures.

Colin Todd, who is still in the hunt for one more frontman, wants somebody capable of finding the net around 15 to 20 times to complement the evergreen top scorer.

The pre-season confidence of Johnson, pictured, will be music to the manager's ears and the signs from the early friendlies are promising, with the new recruit looking lively in the box and producing some intelligent runs.

He also got off the mark with a cool finish at Morecambe, a goal set up by a moment of quick-thinking from Windass.

Johnson admits the presence of Windass, who is 16 years older, has been a massive help in bedding the new boy in to City's plans.

He said: "Deano is great to play with and that can only help me in the future and hopefully the team as well. He's got so much experience and I'm learning off him every day.

"He talks you through the game and lets you know where he wants you to be. He's helped me settle in playing-wise with the team quite quickly and it's made things a lot easier to play with someone with so much knowledge. I haven't been here long but I feel part of the team already. Knowing Ben Muirhead and Steve Schumacher before has certainly helped and the other lads have made me very welcome. Now I'm just looking forward to kicking off the season. Nottingham Forest will be a big game, there's going to be a lot of people there and to get a good start against one of the big teams in the league would kick-start us." It will be the third season in a row that Johnson has lined up for a new team but, after lengthy loan spells away from United at Coventry and Crewe, he is delighted to have put down roots at Valley Parade. "It's a fresh start for myself," he said. "I've got a two-year contract and now I can concentrate on getting my head down and playing as well as possible. Hopefully we can finish as high as possible this season and you've got to be looking at the play-offs. My aim is to score the goals to help us to be up there."

  • Fans wanting to buy City's new kit will have to wait a little longer because of a delay at the manufacturers. Retail manager Danny Vilia admitted they were now looking to have the stock ready in time for the first home game of the season against Bristol City on August 8.