Bristol City boss Gary Johnson has explained why he stepped away from the media limelight during the last fortnight. Following the 0-0 draw with Ipswich Town, the Bristol City boss declined all interviews - including on the club's in-house website - until the build-up to today's home match with Reading. It was an unusual move by a man who is normally only too happy to step in front of the cameras. But Johnson said it was because he felt his comments were becoming repetitive and he hoped they would be appreciated more after a brief break. Assistant manager Keith Millen stood in for the former Yeovil boss in the meantime. When asked if he was back for good, Johnson said: "I don't know. It's one of those things. Milly is quite capable of taking the stage every now and then. It's good experience for him. I just felt I had to get my ugly mug off the screen and my quotes out of the papers for a couple of weeks. Hopefully, people could almost look forward to you coming back later."
Bristol Evening Post

Gary Johnson says the Championship is a graveyard for managers because it's the toughest league in the world. Bristol City's boss sends his team out to face managerless Reading at Ashton Gate today with four of his divisional colleagues ousted in a week. Johnson said: "Managers everywhere are under pressure. The Championship is the most competitive league in the world. You have 24 teams all capable of beating each other, so few go on winning runs."
Mirror

Shane Long returns for Reading against Bristol City after serving a three-match ban and could partner Simon Church in attack.
Clubcall