Basso's future at Bristol City in doubt after boss leaves him out

Gary Johnson will today hold talks with Adriano Basso which could spell the end of the goalkeeper's Bristol City career.

Upset by comments attributed to the Brazilian by Sky Sports on Friday, Bristol City's manager responded by leaving Basso out of the squad for Saturday's Coca-Cola Championship clash with Sheffield United at Ashton Gate.

Former Republic of Ireland Under-21 keeper Stephen Henderson was called up to the bench to serve as cover for first-choice Dean Gerken and Basso was told to stay away from the stadium.

Out of contract at the end of the season and placed on the transfer list at his own request in August, Basso is refusing to sign a new deal. He chose the eve of Saturday's game to make public his desire to join another club on loan when the transfer window reopens in January. He also repeated his intention to leave Ashton Gate at the end of the season. His pronouncement came just 24 hours after Johnson offered Basso a way back in an interview with the Evening Post.

He explained: "To be honest, I was very surprised by what Basso said and I'll be talking to him about it on Monday.

"It seems it was a reaction to a report in the Evening Post the day before – he's read about his situation and then chosen another vehicle to let everybody know that he's available in January.

"I really don't understand it. Between myself, the chairman, the chief executive and everyone at the football club, we've done everything we possibly can to try and make him change his mind. Unfortunately, we've been coming up against a brick wall where someone has his own views and won't budge."

"I asked him not to come to the game, because I felt he was not in the right frame of mind to be a part of it."

Although City's manager is unlikely to want to rely on a player who is not 100 per cent committed to the cause, he will be forced to use Basso should either Gerken or Henderson be injured.

The deadline for loan deals passed last week and Johnson cannot sign another keeper until January.

He commented: "I don't want to say it's the end of the road for Basso, because there might still come a time when I need to use him.

"There was a way back for him and the chairman had been talking to him quite extensively. But he has advisers around him and they may be telling him something different.

"I've told him there have been no offers for him and I've promised to tell him as soon as any interest is forthcoming. The minute anyone comes in for him, I will tell him about it."

Problems are mounting for Johnson, who watched his team lose 3-2 at home to Sheffield United at the weekend.

City came back from 2-0 down at half-time to draw level thanks to goals from Louis Carey and Alvaro Saborio, the substitute who netted the equaliser in the fifth minute of added time.

But just when it looked as though City had salvaged a point, they were caught by a sucker punch, Blades striker Darius Henderson completing his hat-trick within a minute to give the visitors a dramatic victory.

Johnson attributed his team's second successive defeat to poor finishing and individual errors, insisting: "You shouldn't lose when you score two goals at home.

"After giving the opposition a two-goal head-start and working so hard to get back into the game, conceding a stupid goal like that was a killer blow.

"As a performance, it was one of our better ones, but we cannot be happy about it after letting in a goal so late in the day.

"I'm a bit concerned about our defending, but you cannot legislate for individual errors and mistakes like the ones we made.

"We had about seven or eight good chances, didn't take them and it's cost us. We shouldn't be letting in three goals at home and the lads have taken a bit of stick off me because I was angry."