Bristol City boss Gary Johnson believes a new stadium is essential if the club is to have a Premier League future.

Ambitious Robins chairman Steve Lansdown is intent upon selling Ashton Gate to supermarket chain Sainsbury's and moving into a new purpose-built ground less than a mile away on a green-belt site at Ashton Vale.

Bristol City councillors meet on Wednesday to consider the football club's application for a 30,000 all-seater stadium and manager Johnson is urging the politicians to back the £65 million scheme.

He said: "A new stadium is crucial for the future of this football club. If we do get it, then we move on and take a couple of major steps forward. If we don't, then I'm afraid we'll be taking a couple of steps backwards.

"I believe it is that important and I know the chairman feels it is that important.

"This is a club with big ambitions to be at the highest level and a new stadium is essential if we want to get there. The decision they make on Wednesday will have a major bearing on the kind of club Bristol City becomes in the future."

No fewer than 26 Premier League and Football League clubs are now playing in modern stadia built within the last two decades, while many others have spent millions of pounds revamping and improving their grounds.

Johnson is adamant Bristol City must leave Ashton Gate if they are to keep pace with many of their rivals.

He said: "We all love playing at Ashton Gate and we love this stadium, but football has moved on now.

"There is a big corporate market out there and clubs need to move with the times. If they don't, they get left behind. It's as simple as that.

"In the end, if Bristol City stands still, nobody gains. You have to keep pushing and striving to be better. The day that stops happening, you're in trouble.

"This is a go-ahead club that wants to progress and the next step in our progression has to be a new stadium."

Should the scheme be given the go-ahead, it will raise the prospect of World Cup games in Bristol. The city is putting forward a bid to the Football Association to be a host if England stages the tournament in 2018.

If the World Cup came to Bristol, then it expected the tournament would generate in the region of £100 million to the local economy. The new stadium will also help to bring economic growth and prosperity to south Bristol.

"So much work has gone into this scheme, it would be a crying shame were it not to happen," added Johnson.

"There are so many good and positive things that hinge on the new stadium.

"I know how much work the chairman has put into it and how much countless other people have put into it. We've come too far and invested too much hope to fail now."