Dean Gerken has warned his Bristol City team-mates against the dangers of being drawn into a relegation dogfight.

Although City are in 13th place in the Coca-Cola Championship table, a disappointing return of two points from the last four games means they are now nearer the relegation zone than the play-off positions for the first time this season.

Bookmakers William Hill make City 9/4 to be relegated and price them at 9/1 to make the play-offs.

Goalkeeper Gerken knows just how easily a run of poor results can degenerate into a full-scale decline, having suffered the bitter blow of relegation from the second tier with Colchester United in 2008.

"I know what it's like to be at the bottom of the league, and you really don't want to go there," said Gerken, who left the Us to join City last summer.

"When you are down there fighting for your lives, the pressure is unbelievable and it's difficult to enjoy your football.

"That's when it can become a downward spiral – the mood drops and it seems like everything is against you. I had that at Colchester, and it's not something I ever want to go through again."

City's players head for Bramall Lane and a showdown with play-off hopefuls Sheffield United tomorrow in the knowledge that another defeat could see them slip even closer to the drop zone.

While City were losing 2-0 at Watford in midweek, Coventry, Derby, Ipswich, Preston, Sheffield Wednesday and Reading were all winning to close the gap on the Robins, who are now just five points clear of the bottom three.

But despite a meagre return of two wins in 17 games, Gerken insists he and his team-mates are maintaining a positive mental approach.

He added: "We're definitely still looking up rather than down. It has to be that way in football, because the moment you begin to look over your shoulder, you can find yourselves in trouble.

"We're all remaining positive and no-one here is giving up on the play-offs."

He said: "I'm convinced we're really close to getting things right and becoming a very good team in the Championship. It's a fine line between winning and losing in this league and we're not far away.

"It seems like most of the other sides have caught the inconsistency bug, and we know we have drawn too many games that we should have won. But we know one good result can change everything, and we have to go to Sheffield United believing we can beat them."

The Blades bullied City into a 3-2 defeat at Ashton Gate in November and Gerken and his colleagues can expect another physical battering from opponents who have earned for themselves a reputation as one of the Championship's more direct teams.

"Watford were direct and hit us with a lot of balls played into the box, and it will be exactly the same against Sheffield United," he said. "No disrespect to Watford, but Sheffield are probably better at it than they are, and we know we're going to have to stand tall and battle.

"Bramall Lane is a tough place to go, especially when you need a win. But we're not frightened of them and we'll be going there to get a result. It only takes one win, and I'd like to see what it does for our confidence when we get it."

City's prospects are not helped by the injury and illness which are threatening to deprive manager Gary Johnson of six first-team regulars.

Nicky Maynard, Jamal Campbell-Ryce and Danny Haynes have joined long-term casualties Jamie McCombe and Brian Wilson on the sidelines this week, while Jamie McAllister and Evander Sno joined them on the treatment table after being injured at Watford.

Marvin Elliott has reportedly gone down with the same illness which laid Haynes low earlier in the week, but he is expected to recover sufficiently to play some part in south Yorkshire tomorrow.