Bristol City boss Gary Johnson has ordered his players to take the Wembley tour ahead of Saturday's Championship play-off final showdown with Hull. Johnson and his players were today making the journey along the M4 before stopping in a plush hotel on the outskirts of London ahead of the match.And their itinerary includes a tourist-style trip around the stadium after a light training session this afternoon. Johnson explained: "Very few of our lads have even been to Wembley, let alone played there. I don't want them turning up on Saturday before the game and having to find their way around and get used to the surroundings."
Bristol Evening Post

Bristol City chairman Steve Lansdown says appointing Gary Johnson as manager was vital in building a club that is capable of reaching the Premier League. City face Hull at Wembley on Saturday in the Championship play-off final. Lansdown said: "He'd been in various jobs for a period of time and he'd built something. That was the key, I wanted someone who was going to work hard and build something. That's what he's done, and who knows what he might build?"
BBC Sport Online

Ivan Sproule stands on the threshold of completing an amazing rags to riches story. Bristol City's flying winger heads for Wembley and a Championship play-off final encounter with Hull this weekend in the knowledge that victory will propel him into the Premier League big-time and change his life forever - all of which will represent an astonishing achievement for someone who was earning a living as a welder while playing part-time football in his home town of Castlederg just four years ago. Accustomed to playing in front of a few hundred spectators in the backwaters of the Irish Football League, Sproule will walk out in front of almost 80,000 fans at Wembley on Saturday to contest the richest game in sport. "Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure this is really happening," said the 27-year-old Northern Ireland international.
Bristol Evening Post

Hull boss Phil Brown believes Bristol City counterpart Gary Johnson should be regarded as the best manager in the Championship this season. Brown and Johnson go head-to-head in the play-off final at Wembley on Saturday for the right to join West Brom and Stoke in the Premier League, with promotion worth an estimated £60million. Johnson took charge at Ashton Gate in September 2005 and could mastermind back-to-back promotions by emerging victorious at the weekend, with Brown full of praise for the 52-year-old. "What Gary Johnson has done this season has been fantastic," said Brown. "For me, he is the manager of the season for the Championship."
Teamtalk

Bristol City boss Gary Johnson insists nepotism will not be a factor when he selects his squad to face Hull in the Championship play-off final. Bristol City manager Gary Johnson insists nepotism will not be a factor when he selects his squad to face Hull in the Coca-Cola Championship play-off final. He could have the unenviable task of informing his son, Lee, he will not be involved in the biggest match in the club's history at Wembley on Saturday. Johnson junior spent the last two months of the season struggling with an ankle injury but returned as a substitute in the final game of the campaign against Preston and featured again in the play-off semi-final against Crystal Palace. The midfielder has declared himself fully fit despite not starting a game for seven weeks. Johnson revealed he already knows what his team will be against the Tigers, but would not say whether his son would be included. "It is something that has always been brought up, and there is no favouritism as far as Lee is concerned," said City manager.
Teamtalk

Bristol City striker Dele Adebola believes victory over Hull in Saturday's Coca-Cola Championship play-off final will silence the critics once and for all. Gary Johnson's promotion-chasing team may be just 90 minutes from the Premier League, but Adebola maintains they have still not been given the respect they are due this season. City have been a more or less permanent fixture in the top six throughout their first season back in English football's second tier since winning automatic promotion from League One 12 months ago, yet bookmakers have laid Hull as short-priced favourites to win the Wembley showpiece final. And those odds have served to fuel resentment within the City dressing room. "It's amazing that so many people still don't think Bristol City can be in the Premier League next season," said Adebola. "We're told we're underdogs before just about every game and this one is no different. There's a lot of people out there who don't even know the names of the Bristol City players. Maybe they'll know who we are when we're playing in the Premier League next season. You have to ask yourself 'where is it going to end?' and 'at what point will people start talking about Bristol City as a force?'. I suppose people are going to have to come and watch us before they realise."
Bristol Evening Post

Gary and Lee Johnson will attempt to write their names into English football history when Bristol City face Hull in the Coca-Cola Championship play-off final. The Bristol manager and midfielder will become the only father and son to achieve promotion from all four divisions if their team win at Wembley on Saturday. Lee would stand alone as the only player to have achieved the feat. He was at Yeovil when they were crowned Conference champions in 2003 and won League Two in 2005. The 26-year-old helped City to a second-placed finish in League One last season in his first campaign at Ashton Gate, meaning that all three promotions came under his father. Gary would emulate the manager of the side his team beat in the semi-finals. Crystal Palace's Neil Warnock is the only manager to have had clubs promoted from all four divisions.
Telegraph