He was a first-team regular and a professional by the end of the decade, when still only 18 years old, and his prolific goalscoring saw County reach the First Division in 1991 after two successive promotion playoff triumphs.
Johnson had played 118 league games for the Magpies, scoring 47 goals – his best season being the 1989–90 campaign which saw them win promotion from the Third Division via the playoffs.
[3] During the second half of the 1991–92 season, Johnson left Meadow Lane and moved down a division to ambitious Derby County, who then narrowly missed out on a Premier League place in the playoffs, in a £1.3 million deal.
It was a trying season for the midlanders, and Johnson was part of Little's extensive rebuilding scheme which saw many of the fading stars who had been bought by his predecessor Ron Atkinson replaced by younger players.
The close season saw Atkinson and Saunders leave the club, and manager Little brought in Serbian striker Savo Milosevic.
As Yorke established himself as a centre-forward, Johnson's first-team chances became limited, although he did collect a League Cup winner's medal on 24 March 1996 as Villa triumphed 3–0 over Leeds United at Wembley.
In 1996–97, Johnson was still unable to displace Yorke or Milosevic, managing just 20 league games and four goals, before he joined Scottish giants Celtic for £2.4million on 27 March 1997 – transfer deadline day.