It is no secret that Bristol City have been striving for the Premier League across the last couple of years but still find themselves stuck in the Championship.

Lee Johnson has helped the Robins to improve over the past four years since he was appointed manager with the club having slowly risen up the league table year-by-year.

He has seen them beat Manchester United in the Carabao Cup quarter-final as well as go toe-to-toe in the semi-final during the same season.

The Robins gaffer has strategically gone about his business in the transfer market alongside CEO Mark Ashton as the recruitment side of things has had its ups and downs.

Johnson has built a squad at Ashton Gate that the supporters can be proud of - a squad that works hard off the ball, a squad that has talent and connects with the fans whether they be old or young.

He has never rested on his laurels when it comes to improving the squad despite seeing a few of his young starlets move on to bigger and better things in the top flight.

Central midfielder Josh Brownhill recently made his Premier League debut since moving to Burnley from the Robins last month and Tammy Abraham has scored goals in the higher division after a previous loan spell at Ashton Gate in 2016-2017.

Results for City have been a bit inconsistent across the last few months though and the fans are beginning to grow slightly frustrated at Johnson as he struggles to maintain a push for the play-offs.

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The man at the Robins helm needs more time to get things right however.

Rome wasn't built in a day and while Johnson has so far not delivered on getting Bristol's biggest club into the Premier League, he deserves more time at the club to try and get things right.

The upcoming transfer window this summer could be make or break for the manager as he looks to put together the final pieces of the jigsaw that could finally see City make it into the Championship play-offs after a long wait.

They have struggled to compete with the big boys so far this season with evidence of that coming in their 3-0 defeat to West Brom but they may not be far off in the near future.

Johnson knows where the side can improve and he will be looking to add to the squad depth such as possibly signing central midfielder Markus Henriksen on a permanent deal after his loan move from Hull last month.

This summer could be the last one that Johnson really has to send out warning signals to the rest of the Championship in terms of squad recruitment but he will have to make it count.