BRISTOL City are taking steps to bridge the quality gap between first and reserve-team football.

Manager Gary Johnson and assistant, Keith Millen, are concerned that the Pontin's Holidays Combination does not offer a stern enough test for their senior players.

And the pair are working hard to arrange a series of friendly fixtures against Premier League opposition after proposals to form a Championship reserve league were rejected during the summer.

A fixture against Tottenham has already been pencilled in for October 29 and further games are in the pipeline for later in the season.

Millen explained: "There was talk of getting up a Championship reserve league, but the travelling was an issue for some clubs.

"We were prepared to travel for reserve team games, but others were not and they voted against the plan."

With the exception of fellow Championship club Swansea, the Robins play reserve team matches against lower league and Non-League opposition.

The gulf in class was apparent when City thrashed Bournemouth 6-0 in a Wales and West Division fixture at Ashton Gate last month and the problem has been exascerbated in recent seasons by the withdrawal of Cardiff and Bristol Rovers.

Millen revealed: "We thought seriously about pulling out of the Combination and just playing friendlies like Cardiff do.

"But the trouble with that is teams can drop out of friendlies at the last minute and you can be left without a game for weeks on end.

"Because it guarantees us a certain number of games, we decided to stay in the reserve league and organise additional games against better teams.

"We're going to London to play Tottenham at their training ground later this month and that should be good test for us.

"We'll arrange additional games against different teams as and when we think we need them."

City currently play reserve team matches against the likes of Forest Green Rovers, Salisbury, Yeovil, Cheltenham and Exeter.

Millen added: "No disrespect to those clubs, but our senior players need more of a test. There is a big gap between first-team Championship football and the Combination and it's hard for the older players to get up for some of the games."

In the absence of competitive and regular reserve team fixtures, City boss Johnson has opted to farm several players out on loan to provide them with first team football.

Scott Murray, Jennison Myrie-Williams, Tristan Plummer and James Wilson are all out on loan.

COMBINATION: THE FACTS

THE Pontins Holidays Football Combination League, as it is now known, is a competition for the reserve teams of Football League clubs from southern England and Wales with clubs from the Midlands and the North playing in a separate, Central League.

The Combination was founded in 1915 as the London Combination, a regional league for London clubs after first-class competition had been suspended due to World War One.

By the end of World War Two, it became a reserve team competition and widened to include teams based outside the capital.

The Combination contained all the reserve teams of League clubs within the region, but from 1999 the reserve teams of the Premier League clubs and some then First Division clubs formed their own reserve league.

Clubs such as Cardiff and Bristol Rovers have withdrawn from the Combination.

Current clubs include AFC Bournemouth, Bristol City, Cheltenham Town, Exeter City, Forest Green Rovers, Plymouth Argyle, Salisbury City, Swansea City, Swindon Town, and Yeovil Town.