Johnson set to boost Bristol City defence

Bristol City boss Gary Johnson was today scouring the transfer market for a central defender.

The Londoner has confirmed his intention to add to his injury-hit squad ahead of Saturday's Coca-Cola Championship encounter with Coventry City at the Ricoh Arena.

And he is not ruling out a loan signing as he intensifies his search for a short-term replacement for Jamie McCombe.

Giant centre-back McCombe faces a minimum period of six weeks on the sidelines after suffering a fractured cheekbone during Saturday's Sky-televised clash against Derby County at Ashton Gate.

McCombe was carried off on a stretcher and rushed to hospital after being left poleaxed by an aerial challenge 15 minutes into the game, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

His loss represents a substantial blow to a defence which has already been hit hard by injuries to Liam Fontaine and Christian Ribeiro.

Although Fontaine is expected to recover from an ankle problem in time to face Coventry at the weekend, the absence of McCombe and Welsh Under-21 international Ribiero, ruled out for a year with cruciate ligament damage sustained during last week's 2-1 Carling Cup win over Peterborough, has left the manager short of experienced defensive cover.

It was always Johnson's intention to replace Tamas Vasko, the towering Hungarian centre-back, who was allowed to return to Budapest when his year-long loan spell expired at the end of May. But injuries mean he is now under pressure to do so before the transfer window closes on August 31.

Johnson admitted as much, saying: "I'm going to sit down with Keith Millen (assistant manager) and the chairman (Steve Lansdown) and look at what options are available to us. We need to bring a centre-back in from somewhere and we'll be trying very hard to make sure we're not left short.

"Bones take a little bit longer to mend and Jamie McCombe could be out for six weeks. With Christian Ribeiro already out, we do need cover at the back.

"McCombe is our tallest defender, wins the first header and will be missed. It's important to bring someone in and that could happen this week."

Fontaine missed Saturday's game after suffering a recurrence of the ankle injury which interrupted his pre-season preparations. When McCombe was carried off, Johnson moved Bradley Orr inside to partner Louis Carey in the centre of defence and deployed substitute Brian Wilson at right-back.

The changes clearly affected City, who gifted Derby an equalising goal after dominating the first half and taking a 23rd-minute lead through Nicky Maynard. Johnson conceded: "It did mess us up, because we lost our 6ft 5in defender who wins all the first headers. I had to move people out of their normal positions and it allowed Derby back into the game.

"Bradley has played centre-half before and I thought he and Brian Wilson did well. But it's not an ideal situation and it's one I need to look at."

Fontaine is expected to return to training today and Johnson revealed: "He should be OK for next Saturday. Liam is still having a slight problem with his ankle and only missed today's game because he had an injection." Johnson claimed Saturday's 1-1 draw with Derby was a fair result. He explained: "It wouldn't have been a fair result at half time, because we played really well in the first half. I thought Derby were there for the taking.

"But we let them come on to us in the first 20 minutes of the second half and, although it could have gone either way after that, I was disappointed we couldn't maintain the same level of performance. We have to learn from it and move on."

Record £2.25m signing Maynard scored his first League goal for Bristol City and Johnson said: "I'm very pleased for him."