Lee Trundle has been told he must improve his fitness before he can be considered for first-team selection.

Bristol City boss Gary Johnson has revealed the £1 million striker has been "playing catch-up" since reporting back for pre-season training on July 1.

And his progress has now been further delayed by injury.

The former Swansea star was conspicuous by his absence during last week's pre-season friendly fixtures against Ajax and Cheltenham Town.

Omitted from the squad altogether against the Dutch masters, the Scouser was then forced out of Saturday's trip to Cheltenham because of badly blistered feet.

He returned to training yesterday but will not travel to Dorset for games against Weymouth and Dorchester over the next two days. With fewer than three weeks to go before City open their Coca-Cola Championship account at Preston North End, Trundle is engaged in a race against time to be ready for the start of the season.

Johnson explained: "We felt Lee didn't come back as fit as he might have been.

"Because some of the other lads had already done some work before July 1, Lee found himself behind them and having to play catch-up.

"Of course, that creates problems of its own and now he's picked up an injury trying to make up lost ground.

"He has badly blistered feet and, although he trained before the game on Saturday morning, he couldn't play.

"Lee is behind the others in terms of fitness and has a lot of ground to make up."

Signed from Swansea in July 2007, Trundle established himself as a fans' favourite when scoring a glorious goal to help City see off Crystal Palace in a Championship play-off semi-final 10 months later.

But he struggled to make an impact last season and made only four starts in the Championship before being loaned to Leeds United between January and March.

Trundle's fall from favour has inevitably generated speculation regarding his future. Yet Johnson insisted Trundle can still play a part at Ashton Gate.

"He's still our player and nothing has happened to change that," said Johnson. "But Lee knows he has to get himself properly match fit before he can be considered for the first-team squad."

Given that Johnson has already signed David Clarkson and is in the market for another centre forward, it is difficult to see where Trundle fits in.

One possible option might be to loan him out to gain match sharpness once the season kicks-off, but any such move will depend upon his fitness. So far, there has been no interest shown by rival clubs.