Bristol City boss Johnson undecided on Saborio for West Brom clash

Bristol City may have to go into action against Championship rivals West Bromwich Albion without Costa Rica striker Alvaro Saborio.

Gary Johnson's team will embark upon one of their toughest assignments of the season when they travel to the Hawthorns a week tomorrow.

But loan signing Saborio is by no means certain to feature in the starting line-up after being called up for international duty.

The 27-year-old forward is to spearhead Costa Rica's attack against Uruguay in two crucial World Cup play-off matches in the next five days, games that will determine which nation goes forward to contest the finals in South Africa next summer.

Costa Rica meet the two-times former World Cup winners in the first leg in San Jose tomorrow and then travel to Montevideo for the decisive second leg on Wednesday.

Because of the time difference and distance involved, Saborio is unlikely to return to the United Kingdom until Friday, just 24 hours prior to Bristol City's big date in the Midlands.

Although Robins manager Johnson is refusing to rule his most experienced forward out of contention, he acknowledges Saborio will be tired following his journey.

"It's a very long journey back across the Atlantic and I can't see Alvaro getting back to Bristol until Friday at the earliest," confirmed Johnson. "Because of the time difference involved, it will already be Thursday morning over here when he is playing in Uruguay. That is not the best preparation for a game against West Brom on the Saturday.

"Playing two games in five days and then travelling back will be tough and he is bound to be tired. But we won't rule him out just yet and we'll wait and see how he feels when he's back with us."

Saborio flew trans-Atlantic only last month for World Cup qualifiers against Trinidad & Tobago and the United States in San Jose and Washington DC respectively.

On that occasion, he managed to return ahead of schedule and featured in Bristol City's Championship game against Peterborough United at Ashton Gate the following Saturday, but he was clearly jaded and was substituted early in the second half.

Johnson acknowledged: "That was about an eight hour flight back to London, but the distance from Uruguay is considerably longer. It's something we are going to have to take into consideration."

West Brom manager Roberto Di Matteo's plans are also likely to be dictated by the international programme. No fewer than seven Albion players are involved in World Cup or friendly fixtures during the forthcoming week, a factor which could play into City's hands.

Defender Gonzalo Jara has been named in the Chile squad to contest a friendly in Slovakia, while midfielder Robert Koren has been called up by Slovenia for a two-legged World Cup play-off against Russia.

Defender Marek Cech, centre-back Abdoulaye Meite, striker Chris Wood and midfielders Chris Brunt and Graham Dorrans are also on international duty.

Bristol City striker John Akinde, meanwhile, has re-joined Wycombe Wanderers on a one-month loan deal.

Akinde spent two months at the Chairboys at the end of last season and helped the club earn automatic promotion from League Two.

He will go straight into the Wycombe squad to face Huddersfield Town in a Sky- televised clash at the Galpharm Stadium on Saturday (12.05pm).