International break has been a boost for Bristol City, says boss Johnson

Gary Johnson insists the current international break has been good for Bristol City.

Although some players and managers regard regular interruptions in the fixture list as a necessary evil, City's boss is all for the Coca-Cola Championship shutting down for a fortnight when the national teams are in action.

Johnson ordered some players to take a three-day holiday over the weekend, while others made the most of a rare opportunity to recover fully from injuries.

Bristol City's first-team squad returned to training today and Johnson claimed: "They will all have benefited from spending quality time with family and friends. When you live in one another's pockets on an almost daily basis, sometimes you need to get away and be with other people. They say a change is as good as a rest and I know the lads will have benefited from the break."

City face a daunting fixture against second-placed West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns on Saturday and Johnson added: "It's good to come back and feel refreshed and raring to go ahead of such a big game. This is a tough league and the Championship season is a long and demanding one. Most of the lads have taken a few days off and will feel the benefit when they return.

"I know some people don't like the breaks for international matches, but I think they are a good thing. They have definitely been a good thing for us.

"It gives the lads time to recharge their batteries, clear their minds and re-focus on what it is they are trying to achieve. We give them all some homework to do and they have videos to watch and reports to read informing them of their own personal performance and how they can improve.

"They have all had time to reflect and recuperate and can now concentrate fully on the job of playing West Brom for the next five days."

He added: "Having these breaks means you can divide the first half of the season into different sections and set short-term targets and goals.

"It helps the players mentally and enables them to focus. So far, they've more or less hit their targets going into each of the breaks."

Defenders Bradley Orr and Jamie McAllister were today expected to return to training after recovering from calf and groin injuries respectively.

And centre-back Liam Fontaine was set to continue his comeback from long-term injury in a reserve team match against Southampton at the south coast club's training headquarters at Marchwood this afternoon (2pm). Striker David Clarkson, who scored in last week's Totesport.com Combination game against Reading, is also expected to be involved.

Meanwhile, Bristol City striker Alvaro Saborio featured in Costa Rica's World Cup qualifying play-off against Uruguay in San Jose on Saturday night. The Ticos face an uphill task in Wednesday's second leg in Montevideo after going down 1-0 to a first-half strike from Diego Lugano.

City defender Lewin Nyatanga was also in international action, featuring for an hour of Wales' comprehensive 3-0 friendly triumph over Scotland at the Cardiff City Stadium.