RISING Bristol City star Christian Ribeiro could miss the start of the new npower Championship campaign through injury.

The Wales international defender, pictured, is struggling to recover from a back problem sustained towards the end of the previous season and could remain on the sidelines for several weeks to come.

One of five City players undergoing treatment for a variety of knocks, Ribeiro was injured while on international duty. And City manager Steve Coppell fears the teenager may be forced to sit out the pre-season campaign while he recovers.

Considered a player for the future, the Academy product forced his way into the first team towards the end of last season and was expected to provide competition for regular first-choice right-back Bradley Orr this term.

But Coppell claimed Ribeiro is unlikely to play any part in City's upcoming tour of Sweden and fears he could miss the friendly programme altogether. He said: "Christian's injury is giving cause for concern and he could be out for a number of weeks.

"Backs are funny things and you have to be so careful with them. We cannot afford to rush him back and then run the risk of him breaking down again. We will monitor his situation closely and give him all the time he needs to make a full recovery. At the moment, it is difficult to say how long that might take."

City reported back for pre-season training last week, but already Coppell is playing a numbers game as several players struggle against the effects of injury.

Wales Under-21 international defender James Wilson has a knee injury and could also be a long-term absentee. Veteran captain and centre-back Louis Carey is recovering from a cut to his heel, left-back Jamie McAllister continues to undergo treatment on a calf problem and striker Marlon Jackson has a leg problem.

Those three are all expected to return to training within the next week, but Coppell is concerned that his squad is looking rather thin on the ground ahead of a hectic friendly schedule. He said: "I'm looking at the numbers and things could be better. Five players are unable to take part in training currently and our first game is less than 10 days away (against Gothenberg in Sweden).

"We only had 20 in training on Friday and, given that I need to rotate players and not push them too hard at this stage of the season, we need to have more available when the friendly games begin."

He added: "I'm not too worried about Louis Carey, and he should be back with us in a few days. But Christian Ribeiro and James Wilson look as though they are going to be longer-term, while we have to be very careful with Jamie McAllister.

"He is raring to go and would be back in training today if he had his way, but his injury was more serious than first thought and we have to look after it. My priority is to have everyone fit for the first game against Millwall, on August 7, not to push them too hard too soon and run them into the ground."