BRISTOL City are still hoping to stage a high-profile friendly fixture at Ashton Gate before the 2010-11 Championship campaign kicks off.

Although the Robins have already arranged a series of warm-up matches against lower-league opposition, they have yet to secure a fixture against either a Premier League or European club.

City hosted Dutch giants Ajax in a friendly which proved popular with supporters in July last year, and also welcomed Premier League newcomers Wolves to Ashton Gate as part of their pre-season preparations. But the recent change in manager delayed planning for the new campaign and City have yet to secure a high-profile fixture against big-name opposition.

City's players report back for training on July 1 and leave for a short tour of Sweden a week later, and time is running out in which to fix-up a game against a top side.

But new manager Steve Coppell has not given up hope of landing a big game at Ashton Gate towards the end of July.

He said: "We're trying to get a big game at home and we're on the phone on a daily basis.

"But one of the problems of the managerial changeover is that we have lost time. Ordinarily, these games are done before the end of the season with plenty of notice.

"Unfortunately, because of the time I came in, there was little opportunity to plan in advance. If we were going to have a big pre-season game, it should have been arranged at about the time Gary (Johnson) left.

"Keith Millen (caretaker-manager following Johnson's departure) had enough on his plate towards the end of the season, keeping the whole thing together, and didn't have the time to plan ahead.

"But we're still hoping to get a big team down here, probably a week before the season starts.

"Obviously, our options are now limited, because we are already into June, but we are working hard to make it happen. Such a game would be good for the players and it would be good for the fans."

City have arranged friendlies at Torquay (July 21), Exeter (July 28) and Yeovil (July 28) and, in an ideal world, would prefer to play stronger opposition at Ashton Gate on Saturday, July 31, seven days before the start of the Championship campaign.

The Robins will also play three matches in Sweden. They take on IFK Gothenburg in Kungsbacka on July 13, meet fellow top-flight side Helsingborgs two days later before completing their Scandinavian itinerary with a less testing exercise against Swedish third division side Vallens on July 17