Eddie Johnson wants to give Crewe a painful reminder of what they missed out on.

The striker is hungry for his first City start tomorrow at the club where he played the whole of last season.

Johnson scored five times for Alex in the Championship from 22 appearances and Dario Gradi tried to sign him in the summer. But he opted instead for a two-year deal at Valley Parade and is braced for a hot reception on his Gresty Road return.

Johnson said: "It was in the papers down there that Dario had said I'd told him I was signing for them. I think he just did it to put a bit of pressure on me.

"We only had talks and nothing was confirmed because obviously I ended up at Bradford. But I'm looking forward to seeing the lads there again and hopefully getting a game."

Johnson has been forced to settle for a bench role so far with Colin Todd keeping the same side for the opening three matches. But he looked sharp after replacing David Graham against Gillingham and that could earn him the nod over the Scot.

"The manager said I have to take my opportunity when I get it and I think my performance last week will have put a bit of pressure on the other two strikers.

"It's difficult coming on as a sub but I just seemed to fit in and get up to the speed of the game very quickly. It was good for my fitness to play half-an-hour and felt even better with the goals going in and us winning in the end."

Gradi, the longest-serving manager in the game, has been at the Crewe helm since 1983 - the year before Johnson was born.

The City frontman added: "Dario's been there so long that he has got the club running the way he wants it and been successful with the players he's brought through.

"You look at the players he's produced like Dean Ashton, even going back as far as David Platt, and that's testament to his coaching and why he's kept the job.

"The passing style is drilled into the players from an early age because a lot of them have come through the system. Dario's got his techniques and he expects everyone to play in that way.

"When I was there it didn't matter if you were 2-0 down or 2-0 up you'd still get the ball down and pass. That's the way Dario has brought them up and what the club are known for.

"But we do the same at Bradford. It's nice to be at a team that want to play football, and you could see in the second half last week that we played some great stuff which showed with the result.

"Playing like that is definitely going to help through the season against teams who can't cope with us."