Roger Johnson: Blues forced me out

Wolves captain Roger Johnson today lifted the lid on his exit from Birmingham and revealed: "It was out of my hands".

Johnson prepares to return to St. Andrew's for the first time since his £4.5m sale in the summer in tomorrow's FA Cup third-round tie, concerned that his side of the story over his departure has not been told.

But, almost six months on, the 28-year-old wants to set the record straight and revealed he was told to find a new club to help ease Blues' crippling financial crisis.

"The club had been relegated and I was asked if I'd like to leave," said Johnson.

"It wasn't a case of me banging the door down saying 'let me leave'.

"It was a gesture from them saying 'listen, we're in a crisis and we need the money, so if you can get yourself a club and get us some money, then off you go.'

"They didn't want to see their best players leave but, at the time, it was out of my hands.

"They can't come back to me and say it's not true because I'll beg to differ. They're the reasons.

"I'm not slagging off the board or Birmingham City – I want this to come out tastefully and that's how it was."

Blues initially wanted up to an inflated £14m for Johnson, yet he eventually left for a cut-price £4.5m.

"They were trying to get a massive fee and maybe price me out of the market, but the club needed money," he said. "I wasn't the only one to go."

Meanwhile, Johnson insists he is loving life at Wolves and says he intends to be playing Premier League football at Molineux next season after recapturing his form.

"I don't know whether Wolves fans think I don't want to be here, because I do – 100 per cent," he said.

"I'm loving my time here and I want to be in this league next year with Wolves. In the last three to five games, I've felt back to myself again.

"I've never had that run of losses before and it does affect you.

"Every mistake I made was costing a goal."