Christian Ribeiro says he is ready, willing and able to take his Bristol City chance should it come along this weekend.

Faced with a defensive crisis ahead of Saturday's FA Cup showdown with Cardiff, City manager Gary Johnson opted to cut short Ribeiro's loan spell at Stockport County and recall him to Ashton Gate.

Although the Wales Under-21 defender is likely to be on the bench to provide cover, he is confident he can do a good job if called upon.

Centre-backs Lewin Nyatanga and Jamie McCombe are ruled out by suspension and injury, respectively, wing-back Brian Wilson is a long-term casualty and Ribeiro said: "It looks as though there could be an opportunity for me.

"I got the call yesterday afternoon and I'm glad to be back in Bristol.

"Defenders are a bit thin on the ground at the moment and it could be a good time for me to be involved again.

"I know I'm likely to be on the bench, but if anything happens and there is another injury, I'll be ready to come on and play my part."

Sidelined for the whole of last season after rupturing his cruciate ligament, Ribeiro insists he is now approaching full fitness.

And he believes turning out on a regular basis for League One strugglers Stockport has made him a better player.

He said: "I was out for such a long time, it's been a long, hard road back. It's hard when you have to train knowing that you're not going to play on Saturday, so to get seven games under my belt at Stockport was brilliant.

"It helped me get my match fitness back but, more importantly, it helped me regain my confidence and self-belief.

"It's only natural to worry when you have such a serious injury, but I now know I'm as good as I was before.

"I may not have managed to help Stockport win a game while I was there, but the experience of playing against sides like Leeds and Charlton has definitely done me good."

Meanwhile, City and Championship rivals Swansea have agreed a deal which will see Lee Trundle stay at the Liberty Stadium for the remainder of the season.

Out-of-favour at Ashton Gate, City's £1 million signing has spent the last four months on loan in Wales, scoring five goals to help establish the Swans as play-off candidates.

Swansea manager Paulo Sousa has opted to extend Trundle's loan until May and chairman Huw Jenkins is challenging the 33-year-old striker to land himself a long-term deal.

"I've spoken to Lee to finalise things with him and he is happy to stay," said Jenkins.

"It's just a matter of confirming with Bristol City that the original loan deal we had in place will keep going until May. The deal was always split in two, so it's just a case of rubber-stamping things so that Lee will continue to be our player."

He added: "It's certainly not out of the question that Lee will be with us beyond this season.

"The way things were set up, it is far simpler now to extend the loan deal until the end of the season. But Lee will be a free agent in the summer and we will look at things then.

"There's certainly an incentive there for him if he wants to stay at Swansea."