BRISTOL City's players will be given another chance to prove themselves when they take on Norwich at Ashton Gate tomorrow.

Without a win in their last three outings and down to 13th in the table, the Robins are in need of a morale-boosting victory in front of their own fans.

And manager Gary Johnson has made it clear he is prepared to enter the loan market if results and performances do not improve this month.

There were no new arrivals during the two-week break for international matches, but Johnson has been keeping tabs on a number of potential targets and is ready to make his move if he feels the situation requires it.

He confirmed: "I'm thinking about it (loan signings) all the time and I'll bring people in when I think it's the right thing to do.

"When the players know I'm thinking about it, they come under a bit more pressure and have to perform.

"As a manager, you know what you want and, of course, we have lists of players we have identified (as targets) if available. Sometimes they are and sometimes they are not.

"We're looking at it but, at this moment in time, we're giving our lads another opportunity to show us what they can do."

A record of one win in eight games has raised question marks over City's ability to replicate last season's fourth-place finish and caused critics to sharpen their knives.

But Johnson refuses to be deflected and says he is determined to silence what he colourfully describes as the "doom and gloom merchants."

He argued: "The time to judge us will be after 46 games, not 10. We have to try and make sure the doom and gloom merchants give us a little bit more time.

"This is a time when we need to stay faithful to this group of players. The boys are giving everything and, so long as they are doing that, we should get behind them.

"If the supporters get behind the lads and give them their best enthusiastic backing, which we know most of them do, then the players will be much more confident and will perform better."

Johnson likens City's situation to that experienced in recent times by Fabio Capello's England. He explained: "We all get disappointed when we lose a game and we've seen something similar with the England team. One minute it's all doom and gloom and the fans are booing the players, the next we're the best team in the world.

"Most teams are a little bit like that and I think our club has been like that recently. We had two very difficult away games at Wolves and Sheffield United and a game against Plymouth, who were going very well, and didn't quite get our game going.

"People shout their heads off and have their say, but they have to realise this is when the lads most need them. I don't want a player making a mistake early on and then hear people moaning because we haven't won in three games.

"I want my players to be able to try and do things with flair so they can excite the crowd. We have to let them try and play their best game and our best game is a flair game."