Gary Johnson is adamant there will be no ill-will on his part when Bristol City renew acquaintance with Crystal Palace this weekend.

City travel to Selhurst Park on Saturday to take on the Eagles in what will be the first meeting between the two sides since the controversial 'goal that never was'.

Palace are still fuming after being denied what they considered a perfectly good goal, scored by loan striker Freddie Sears, in a Coca-Cola Championship game at Ashton Gate in August.

The South London club ended up losing the game 1-0 and chairman Simon Jordan afterwards branded City cheats, while manager Neil Warnock railed against match referee Rob Shoebridge.

Football Association chief Keith Hackett has since apologised to both clubs in a bid to put the matter to rest once and for all. But Warnock is sure to use the bad feeling created back then to motivate his team this weekend and City can expect a hot reception when they arrive at Selhurst.

All of which creates a potential problem for Robins manager Johnson, who must ensure his players are fully focused on the task of ending a four-match sequence without a win.

He warned: "It could be a distraction and we must not allow that to happen. Playing at Crystal Palace is difficult enough without having to worry about something that happened months ago.

"As far as I'm concerned, what happened at Ashton Gate earlier in the season is water under the bridge.

"We have never received an explanation as to why the goal was not given and Keith Hackett has apologised to both clubs for putting us in such a difficult position. There was no blame attached to our football club and people have to remember that we scored a goal and won the game fair and square.

"We've had a couple of good goals disallowed since then and you just have to take it on the chin and get on with things. If Palace want to continue to make an issue of it, then that's up to them.

"From our point of view, it's over and done with and we have a football match to prepare for."

Johnson expects old foe Warnock to draw on the controversy to whip his team up before kick-off.

He said: "I've met Neil a couple of times since that game in August and he's been nice as can be.

"We all know he's a lovely bloke outside of the technical area, but when he's on the touchline he's a competitor and he changes completely.

"I'm sure he'll use what happened to stoke his lads up and we have to be prepared for that. But then you always expect Neil's teams to come at you and put you under pressure, because that's they way he plays the game.

"We have to make sure we're ready for that and not thinking about things that are in the past."

Johnson may have forgiven and forgotten, but City's directors have not and chairman Steve Lansdown is expected to steer clear of the Palace boardroom on Saturday after Jordan warned the Robins to expect a backlash in an outburst which earned him censure from the FA.

City fans are expected to travel in their hundreds and there is sure to be a heavy police presence both inside and outside the stadium aimed at preventing a repeat of the trouble which marred the league fixture at Selhurst Park two seasons ago.