FIGHTING ON TWO FRONTS

FA Cup 5th rd: Bristol City v Wolves Johnson not ready for dream to die

BRISTOL CITY boss Lee Johnson insists his side are just as focused on the FA Cup as they are on their bid for promotion to the Premier League.

The Robins are currently Europe’s form side after nine wins in a row in 2019 and they are firmly in the race to grab a spot in the top flight next season.

They have shown previously that they may be ready to join the English elite by beating Manchester United in the League Cup last season and then only narrowly losing to Manchester City in the semi-finals.

And despite promotion being the obvious main target, Johnson is not dismissing the importance of the FA Cup – far from it. Ahead of today’s fifth-round home tie against Premier League Wolves, the City boss said: “It is equal. “We have a group who are hungry to prove themselves at Premier League level and we have created that for a reason. “We have a belief that at times in the Championship there are overpaid players who are prisoners of the past. “We are a club which has to work with young players who we can improve. FA Cup games like this are a chance to prove that we are capable of competing at that level.

“We have done it with several wins against Premier League opposition in the last 18 months.”

This is also an opportunity for Johnson to prove he belongs with the game’s best in the Premier League.

And he believes it may be his only chance to manage a top-flight club in the near future, with the influx of foreign managers – both experienced and not – still flooding into the game.

“Yes, I think it is hard for us to progress,” said Johnson, 37.

“Clubs are now under such immense pressure financially to stay in the Premier League that it makes sense in one respect to go for managers who have been successful in the Premier League.

“But at times you can see the guard changing – for example the German influence coming across.

“The big question for me as a young coach is what are we doing if we see German Under-23s coaches beating managers at our top two levels to jobs which come free?

“The best route for me is to take Bristol City up via promotion and that’s what we are striving to do.

“By the same token, there is probably a route for young English managers to get to the Premier League by going out to come in – to go abroad and get noticed.

“Is the FA doing enough to support young coaches? What are our continental links? Who’s going the other way?

“One of my frustrations, not for myself because I’m at a brilliant club and I am still pushing, but for some of my friends is that we should be getting these opportunities as well.

“I want to see our English Under-23s coaches, because they are high quality, being selected by top foreign clubs.

“Don’t get me wrong

– I’ve no issue with foreign coaches.

“All I am asking is for a route both ways.

“I want to see more done for young English coaches. There are many who don’t get the chance.”