Bristol City manager Gary Johnson has admitted he and his players are feeling the pressure of having won only twice in 17 games.

And he said he faces a difficult job if he is to restore lost confidence and halt a slide which has seen the Robins drop out of play-off contention and plummet to 15th in the Coca-Cola Championship table since the turn of the year.

Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Sheffield United, City's second reverse on the road in the space of four days, leaves Johnson and his charges looking anxiously over their shoulders at the drop zone.

City remain five points clear of third-from-bottom Reading, but a meagre return of two draws and one goal from the last five outings is giving cause for concern and promoting fears that the remainder of the season could be spent battling relegation.

"We're all feeling the pressure," said Johnson, who saw his side go down to second-half goals from Henri Camara and Darius Henderson at Bramall Lane.

"We desperately need a win at the moment, but that looks as though it is a little way away.

"Every game you go without a win, the more that pressure builds, and you only stop that by taking tree points.

"It's not that the lads are not trying, because they are. But too many of them are below their best, and that's when situations like this arise."

"There is always pressure. We're all professionals and the nature of the game means you have to win more often than we have been."

City held out for 49 minutes against the Blades, but caved in once the home side went ahead.

Johnson added: "Our confidence is very fragile at the moment and the lads are struggling to cope when things go against them. It's affecting them, and they don't look like coming back when they go a goal down.

"Sometimes it looks almost as though they are waiting for things to go wrong, and that happens when you are playing without confidence. You can see it in their body language, and that is why we cannot string four or five passes together.

"That is my reputation and it is Bristol City's reputation, but we've lost that game at the moment. They train and they train and we see it every now and then, but they cannot do it on the pitch where it matters.

"I'd say a lack of confidence is our biggest single problem right now, and I have to do something about that.

"It just drained when Sheffield United scored, and that's where we are."

City face tough back-to-back home games against promotion candidates Leicester (tomorrow) and West Bromwich Albion (on Sunday), but Johnson remains optimistic.

Despite his team's recent problems, he refuses to be downhearted and insisted he and his players are working hard in a bid to revive fortunes on the pitch.

He said: "There are a lot of teams ahead of us, but there are still a lot who are below us. I'm not thinking about the relegation line or the promotion line, I just want to get the next win.

"We need to score first and, when that happens, I believe we will see a completely different team. We have two big home games against top teams, and that might be exactly what we need right now."