England full-back Glen Johnson is ready to show his maturity in a massive year for club and country.
The 24-year-old, who signed for Liverpool from Portsmouth in the summer, suffered a disastrous debut against Denmark in 2003 and then struggled for regular football at Chelsea.
His reputation was not helped by headlines off the pitch - for an alleged theft of a toilet seat from a shop - but he turned his career around at Fratton Park.
England boss Fabio Capello has started him regularly and the defender is set to play a role in the Barclays Premier League title race during the coming campaign.
Johnson feels he is a different player to when he was last at a top-four club.
"I'd say I'm more mature," he said. "There were a couple of incidents that got blown out of proportion and were totally wrong.
"That's not for me to worry about. I've put it behind me and it's not important.
"I've aged. I'm improving all the time and that has been a key factor. Before I didn't play, so it's impossible to put in performances if you don't play."
Johnson is using the World Cup next year as motivation - and it is down to his move to Pompey that he has the chance to play in South Africa.
"Joining Portsmouth was fantastic for me because I was playing week-in week-out, and working hard in training," he said.
"The most important thing for any player is consistency in playing games. That is when you learn from your mistakes.
"That is the one thing I can put my finger on.
"Liverpool are one of the big four so they will be in the spotlight a lot of more. It could be a big year. We have high hopes within the Liverpool camp. With the World Cup coming up it's a big year for everyone."
Capello's men are on the brink of qualifying for the tournament, but warm up for the season with a friendly against Holland in Amsterdam this week, with Johnson wanting to build on their progress in the last year.
"It was nice in the last few games with the results and we want to continue that," he said.
"I was happy to play last season and put in decent performances. The longer that continues the better."
The 24-year-old, who signed for Liverpool from Portsmouth in the summer, suffered a disastrous debut against Denmark in 2003 and then struggled for regular football at Chelsea.
His reputation was not helped by headlines off the pitch - for an alleged theft of a toilet seat from a shop - but he turned his career around at Fratton Park.
England boss Fabio Capello has started him regularly and the defender is set to play a role in the Barclays Premier League title race during the coming campaign.
Johnson feels he is a different player to when he was last at a top-four club.
"I'd say I'm more mature," he said. "There were a couple of incidents that got blown out of proportion and were totally wrong.
"That's not for me to worry about. I've put it behind me and it's not important.
"I've aged. I'm improving all the time and that has been a key factor. Before I didn't play, so it's impossible to put in performances if you don't play."
Johnson is using the World Cup next year as motivation - and it is down to his move to Pompey that he has the chance to play in South Africa.
"Joining Portsmouth was fantastic for me because I was playing week-in week-out, and working hard in training," he said.
"The most important thing for any player is consistency in playing games. That is when you learn from your mistakes.
"That is the one thing I can put my finger on.
"Liverpool are one of the big four so they will be in the spotlight a lot of more. It could be a big year. We have high hopes within the Liverpool camp. With the World Cup coming up it's a big year for everyone."
Capello's men are on the brink of qualifying for the tournament, but warm up for the season with a friendly against Holland in Amsterdam this week, with Johnson wanting to build on their progress in the last year.
"It was nice in the last few games with the results and we want to continue that," he said.
"I was happy to play last season and put in decent performances. The longer that continues the better."
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