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Quiet deadline day for Johnson

Image: Johnson: Planned ahead

Bristol City boss Gary Johnson has steered well clear of the transfer circus on deadline day.

Robins have already completed their business

Bristol City boss Gary Johnson has steered well clear of the transfer circus on deadline day. Up and down the country clubs are attempting to acquire the final piece of the jigsaw they hope will complete their squad. The drama prior to the closure of the window at midnight on Monday shows no sign of abating, but the Robins will not be getting involved. Johnson refused to leave his dealings to the last possible moment, with the signing of John Akinde on Saturday representing his final piece of business. "All of our business is done now, having taken John Akinde from Ebbsfleet and that's all we are going to do now," the City boss told skysports.com. "We are not going to bring people in just for sake of it, we only sign players for the long term rather than just until Christmas. "We don't tend to panic on deadline periods and we just tend to go about our business when we choose. A lot of teams tend to panic on the last day, but we're not like that."

Pleased

The upcoming international break often disrupts a club's momentum, but Johnson believes it has come at a good time for the Robins. "It's come at a good time for us really, as we've got a few injuries cropping up and a few with stitches, cuts and grazes, so it's come at a good time for most clubs to have a little rest and assess the season so far," he added. "In terms of ourselves, we are very pleased with our start to the season, to have eight points from the first four games. We said to ourselves at the start that we wanted to be up there when the first international break came along and we've done that."
Healing
Cole Skuse and Jamie McAllister limped out of the Robins' 1-1 draw with QPR at the weekend, adding to a mounting injury list which already includes Jamie McCombe, Christian Ribeiro and Scott Murray. However, Johnson revealed that the time off will act as a good healer for his stricken stars. "Jamie's fine, the good news is that there's no game this weekend, so he's got two weeks to recover and he's a quick healer. "He got a kick on the injury he had picked up in the game before, so it was a bit sore for him, but he's got plenty of time to recover and he'll be back for the next game."
Unlucky
Another name on the Robins' injury list is that of Marvin Elliot, but the midfielder is getting closer to a return to action by the day. "Marvin's unlucky not to be playing in tonight's reserve fixture against Southampton, but we just wanted to keep him doing some more fitness work before throwing him into a competitive match. "He's got two weeks now to use as a pre-season for him and he's certainly free from injury now, it's just a matter of getting him fit for the games."

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