BRISTOL City chief executive Colin Sexstone says there is an "outstanding" chance of winning the battle to build a new Sainsbury's superstore at Ashton Gate, which would allow the club's new £92 million stadium to go ahead.

His comments came during a public meeting at Ashton Gate attended by 500 fans, during which he branded the decision to turn down the Sainsbury's scheme as "ludicrous".

Mr Sexstone said: "We've had two sets of experts give long reports, which said there would be minimal effect on retail in North Street, East Street and West Street.

"Of course, that comes as no surprise to those of us who go there – we know that's the case – but four councillors said the reports were wrong and they were right.

"That's why an appeal will have an outstanding chance because the same report by the council themselves will support our bid. That's what makes it so annoying. It was a ludicrous decision."

During the meeting in the club's Dolman exhibition hall yesterday, he also:

Ruled out building a new stadium at Ashton Gate;

Insisted the stadium could not be built without selling the current ground for its full market value; and

Said work could not start on the new stadium until the Ashton Gate issue had been resolved.

He said he had lived in the area for most of his life but there had been little investment for many years.

Yet the new stadium and the deal with Sainsbury's would create hundreds of new jobs.

He said: "We should all be worried about jobs for our youngsters, not least ourselves, and here was an opportunity to lift the whole area, creating hundreds of millions of pounds of investment and what have we got? Absolutely nothing.

"That was the answer that those four councillors gave to us, absolutely nothing – we will stay as we are because we are frightened that a deli in Southville might close.

"I am not going to tell you that we are going to appeal but what I can tell you is that I am confident as I can be that we will.

"We have an outstanding chance of success. Outstanding."

The club is relying on a superstore being built at the ground to fund part of the £92 million that is needed to build the new stadium at Ashton Vale.

Officials from Bristol City and representatives from the supermarket chain are due to meet today to discuss their next move.

Following the meeting yesterday, fans marched from the Ashton Gate to the site of the new stadium at Ashton Vale, where they symbolically formed a rectangle, representing the sides of a football pitch.

Mr Sexstone said: "We know our fans are absolutely passionate about the club and we are overwhelmed by their support."

He told fans the council had turned down planning permission – yet their own officers had recommended approval.

Stuart Rogers, chairman of the Bristol City Supporters' Trust, said: "We, the fans, have put a marker down today that we are passionate about this project for a new stadium and we are asking for Bristol City Council to think again.

"We are not going to get personal – we are going to fight in a straightforward and dignified way."

He said the stadium was not just about a new home for the club but the regeneration of the area.

None of the club officials took part in the walk because it had been organised by the fans.

Earlier, the club's new manager, Steve Coppell, was asked whether a new stadium was key in taking the club to the Premiership.

He said he did not take on the job with a condition that there was going to be a new stadium.

He said: "I knew plans were in place and the chairman is very committed but from my point of view, I must take one season at a time and concentrate on getting the club as high up the league as possible.

"I know from my time at other clubs that a new stadium increases the fan base."

He said one of his former clubs, Reading, had managed to reach the Premiership after moving to a new stadium.

He said: "I think it would be good for the community and Bristol and the future of this football club."

The open day at Ashton Gate came the day after it was revealed the city councillor who chaired the meeting that saw the Sainsbury's scheme turned down was at the centre of an internet protest by fans.

Councillor Simon Rayner (Lib Dem, Kingsweston), an architect employed by Alec French Architects, has dismissed the complaint about his firm's previous links with a business belonging to architect George Ferguson, one of the most vocal opponents of the scheme.

A posting on a fans' website highlighted the fact that Mr Rayner's firm and Mr Ferguson's had previously had business links in Bristol.

Mr Rayner, 29, works as an architect for Alec French, which used to be a member of the Concept Planning Group and which designed the public squares and open spaces next to the @Bristol science centre.

The planning group, which was founded by Mr Ferguson, who has put forward his own scheme of ecologically friendly houses for the Ashton Gate site, designed the £90million Bristol Millennium Project, including the science centre and the former Wildwalk attraction next door.

The posting complained that the previous link between the two firms had not been revealed by Mr Rayner, yet the committee's chairman Sean Beynon (Lab, Southville) had stood down because he was a season ticket holder with City.

Both Mr Rayner and Mr Ferguson have rejected the fans' forum complaint as "total nonsense".

They say there is no current link between the two firms and the complaint is an absurd "conspiracy" theory.

The council's top lawyer, Stephen McNamara, has told the Evening Post there was no evidence Mr Rayner had any interests that would have debarred him from participating in the decision.