Mario Balotelli's no big loss - he let down his Man City mates

EURO STARS ... Johnson v Balotelli

LIVERPOOL star Glen Johnson insists Manchester City will not miss Mario Balotelli — and nor will he.

Full-back Johnson faces City today in the first match since Balo was flogged to AC Milan.

Some City fans may wish the Italian had stayed put.

But England star Johnson said: “I don’t think they will miss Balotelli. I’m not being disrespectful to the guy but everyone knows what he’s like.

“On his day, he can be a great player... but City have got great players who do it a lot more often and score more goals than him.”

Moody Balotelli, 22, received 22 yellow cards and four reds during his 2½ years at City.

Johnson, 28, also faced Balo in England’s Euro 2012 quarter-final against Italy.

And the Anfield defender added: “We all have our faults but Mario let his side down a lot with silly red cards and stuff like that.

“He’s a great player but we didn’t see that enough. Personally, I won’t miss him. He was probably more famous for things he did off the pitch than what he did on it.”

Second-placed City are desperate to close the gap on rivals Manchester United at the top of the Premier League.

But they may find Liverpool a tough nut to crack at the Etihad.

Brendan Rodgers’ side drew 2-2 at Arsenal in midweek after being dumped out of the FA Cup at Oldham and are now determined to get back into the Champions League.

Johnson added: “It was a big disappointment to go out of the Cup the way we did.

“But we showed our character at Arsenal — even though we probably saw it as two points dropped after being 2-0 up.

“There have been times when our performances have been better than the points we have been getting.

“But our form in the league has been a lot better recently than it was at the start.

“There are probably six teams fighting for fourth place this season, it’s very open. We know it will be tight.

“But if we could get into the top four it would be a massive boost for this club.

“People thought we had no chance at the start of the season but it’s a realistic target for us now.

“If we can go on some kind of run until the end of the season, we’ll be close.”