Johnson: 'We still have a long way to go yet'

9:21am Thursday 15th May 2008

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GARY Johnson insists all the hard work is still to come after the euphoria that surrounded Ashton Gate on Tuesday night begins to settle down.

After their thrilling Coca-Cola Championship semi-final victory over Crystal Palace, Bristol City will now go to Wembley after goals in extra time from Lee Trundle and Michael McIndoe earned them a 4-2 aggregate victory.

But the man that masterminded the Robins' success in their first season back in the Championship knows that nothing has been achieved yet, and his attention has turned fully towards the play-off final as they aim to reach the Premier League.

He told the Gazette: "We know it was a fantastic day but we've still got a big job to come, and we don't want to lose out at Wembley due to a lack of preparation.

"The players need rest time, they need to mentally prepare and work on the opponents strengths and weaknesses and how that can effect us, and what part of our strength and weaknesses can effect our opponents."

Before the game Bristol City had seen a slump in form in the Championship season, having missed out on automatic promotion and they were underdogs against a Palace side who looked to be hitting the ground running at the right time.

However, Johnson believes City have now turned the corner and can go into the game on Saturday May 24 full of confidence.

He said: We seem to have hit form at the right time, and we can enjoy it, but at the same time we need to be mindful that we've got a 49th game and that has to be a winning one."

Although Johnson nor his players will be getting carried away with the celebrations after fans flooded the Ashton Gate pitch on Tuesday, the manager said the moment was something to savour.

He also praised his side for a good team performance, as they now get ready to face either Watford or Hull, dependant on last night's result, in the £60million final Johnson said: "Celebrating winning was fantastic especially against Crystal Palace who were favourites. To get four great goals was very good."