Gary Johnson will put friendship on hold for 90 minutes this Saturday as City do battle with Cardiff at Ninian Park.

The City manager looks on his Cardiff counterpart Dave Jones as one of his best friends in football, but that has to be put to one side on Saturday for the Severnside derby.

Gary explained on Bristol City World: "Our friendship began on an FA coaching course, we were both on the same A licence course. He turned up late the first day and I gave him stick about it for the rest of the course.

"When he was out of work after his time with Southampton I invited him out to Latvia on a few occasions. He did a bit of scouting for my national team at the time. We remain close.

"He got me into cruising on ships, which is something I never thought I'd do. I've been on 15 to 20 cruises since. We do keep in touch but it will be very professional this weekend."

Jones has steered Cardiff into the semi-finals of this season's FA Cup competition and the Bluebirds are still in with a shout of a play-off place in the Coca-Cola Championship.

Gary added: "We're both very competitive people and he's done very well at Cardiff this year. They're in the semi-finals, I acknowledge that and I'm sure he'll acknowledge how well we've done so far.

"This Saturday's game is one that both of us need to win. Something's got to give and we've got to make sure it's us that come out on top."

Much hype always surrounds a England versus Wales battle, especially given the relatively short distance between the two rivals on Saturday - Bristol and Cardiff being just 43 miles apart.

But Gary played that down: "It's not England versus Wales, it's Bristol City playing at Cardiff City.

"I know it's classed as a local derby but both teams have to do the job. But both teams have a job to do, nobody can step out of line or afford yellow or red cards.

"We have to go there, enjoy the atmosphere, try and play our stuff - and try and come away with three points."

Lee Johnson (ankle) and Jamie McCombe (hip) will be given as much time as possible to recover from their recent injuries, while David Noble (ankle) and Cole Skuse (hamstring) are available for selection once more.