IT'S tight at the bottom of the Championship with just eight games to go, but City could take a big step towards safety with a win over Brentford on Saturday (3pm).

Hopefully rejuvenated after the two week international break City will be looking to make it three wins in a row with victory at Griffin Park.

As well as our fixture, City fans will be keeping an eye out for the results of the three teams directly below us: Forest, Burton and Blackburn.

All three have very tough games away from home, hence a win for us could really boost our survival chances.

Our record against The Bees hasn’t been very good of late with no wins in our last five league meetings. Indeed our last win at the west London club came in 2005, a significant game as it was Gary Johnson’s first game in charge of City and we won 3-2.

How Gary’s son Lee would love to get a similar result on Saturday and go on to emulate what his father achieved at the club.

Next Tuesday City travel to Deepdale to face Preston North End (7.45pm). Preston have been comfortably mid-table all season and aren’t in any danger of going down, in fact they will still harbour ambitions of sneaking into the play-offs.

Manager Simon Grayson has done a fine job at the club on a limited budget. City spent considerably more than The Lilywhites last summer yet have found themselves struggling near the bottom of the table for most of the season.

City spent approximately £14 million on transfer fees in the summer and we’ve had little reward for that expenditure this season, despite it being one of the higher spends in the division.

Owner Steve Lansdown has stuck by head coach Lee Johnson, though, and he will be hoping his loyalty is rewarded and Johnson guides City to safety over the coming weeks.

The alternative is unthinkable given the resources that have been made available.