Bristol City boss Gary Johnson was today scouring the

transfer market for a central defender.

The Londoner has confirmed his intention to add to his

injury-hit squad ahead of Saturday's Coca-Cola Championship

encounter with Coventry City at the Ricoh Arena.

And he is not ruling out a loan signing as he intensifies

his search for a short-term replacement for Jamie McCombe.

Giant centre-back McCombe faces a minimum period of six

weeks on the sidelines after suffering a fractured cheekbone

during Saturday's Sky-televised clash against Derby County at

Ashton Gate.

McCombe was carried off on a stretcher and rushed to

hospital after being left poleaxed by an aerial challenge 15

minutes into the game, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

His loss represents a substantial blow to a defence which

has already been hit hard by injuries to Liam Fontaine and

Christian Ribeiro.

Although Fontaine is expected to recover from an ankle

problem in time to face Coventry at the weekend, the absence of

McCombe and Welsh Under-21 international Ribiero, ruled out for

a year with cruciate ligament damage sustained during last

week's 2-1 Carling Cup win over Peterborough, has left the

manager short of experienced defensive cover.

It was always Johnson's intention to replace Tamas Vasko,

the towering Hungarian centre-back, who was allowed to return

to Budapest when his year-long loan spell expired at the end of

May. But injuries mean he is now under pressure to do so before

the transfer window closes on August 31.

Johnson admitted as much, saying: "I'm going to sit down

with Keith Millen (assistant manager) and the chairman (Steve

Lansdown) and look at what options are available to us. We need

to bring a centre-back in from somewhere and we'll be trying

very hard to make sure we're not left short.

"Bones take a little bit longer to mend and Jamie McCombe

could be out for six weeks. With Christian Ribeiro already out,

we do need cover at the back.

"McCombe is our tallest defender, wins the first header and

will be missed. It's important to bring someone in and that

could happen this week."

Fontaine missed Saturday's game after suffering a recurrence

of the ankle injury which interrupted his pre-season

preparations. When McCombe was carried off, Johnson moved

Bradley Orr inside to partner Louis Carey in the centre of

defence and deployed substitute Brian Wilson at right-back.

The changes clearly affected City, who gifted Derby an

equalising goal after dominating the first half and taking a

23rd-minute lead through Nicky Maynard. Johnson conceded: "It

did mess us up, because we lost our 6ft 5in defender who wins

all the first headers. I had to move people out of their normal

positions and it allowed Derby back into the game.

"Bradley has played centre-half before and I thought he and

Brian Wilson did well. But it's not an ideal situation and it's

one I need to look at."

Fontaine is expected to return to training today and Johnson

revealed: "He should be OK for next Saturday. Liam is still

having a slight problem with his ankle and only missed today's

game because he had an injection." Johnson claimed Saturday's

1-1 draw with Derby was a fair result. He explained: "It

wouldn't have been a fair result at half time, because we

played really well in the first half. I thought Derby were

there for the taking.

"But we let them come on to us in the first 20 minutes of

the second half and, although it could have gone either way

after that, I was disappointed we couldn't maintain the same

level of performance. We have to learn from it and move

on."

Record £2.25m signing Maynard scored his first League goal

for Bristol City and Johnson said: "I'm very pleased for

him."