Webster - City's new Heart

Home is where the Hearts are for Bristol City’s defensive recruit Andy Webster who could end 18 months of injury heartache with a start at Coventry today.

The 26-year-old centre-back, recruited as a temporary replacement for the injured Jamie McCombe, admitted he had other offers for his services, but his friendship with former Hearts colleagues Jamie McAllister and Lee Johnson clinched his decision to move to the South West.

Webster comes from Glasgow Rangers with a fine CV including 22 international caps for Scotland and four Premiership appearances for Wigan, three of which resulted in clean sheets and all four of which were victories.

More than 150 starts for Hearts brought him to the attention of the Premiership side and it was at Tyncastle where he met McAllister and Johnson.

He said: “Bristol did exceptionally well last season getting to the play-offs. They’re a big club and a very good football team and are obviously looking to improve on last season.

“I had a few offers but this appealed to me the most. I know a couple of the players I played with at Hearts which made the decision a bit easier. It helps you settle in a bit quicker when you know people.

“Both Jamie and Lee are really good friends and I was still in touch with them before any of this came about.”

The six foot centre-back barely featured for Rangers during two loan spells from Wigan due to a succession of injuries. The Scottish Premier club signed him permanently at the start of the summer and Webster is looking to get back into manager Walter Smith’s plans by excelling at Ashton Gate and helping the Robins go one better than last season.

He said: “I’ve struggled with injuries so this is a fresh opportunity and one I’m looking forward to. (The injuries) were just one thing after another. You start getting back fit and then something else happens and you feel you’re banging your head against a brick wall - but I’m fully fit now. I’ve done a whole pre-season and played a few friendlies.”

“The reason I’m here is on a short term loan and I’ve come to realise over the past two years that you don’t always get what you want in football so I’m just going to do the best I can for Bristol.”The Scotsman admitted English football is generally of a higher standard than North of the border and he is looking forward to the competitive nature of the Championship.

He said: “You’ve got 10, 12, 14 teams all looking to get automatic promotion or in the play-offs. Every game is a big one. Even if my match fitness is not quite there, the adrenalin will get me through.”

McCombe went under the surgeon’s knife on Thursday to repair his cheekbone. Scans showed the bone was fractured in three places in the draw against Derby last weekend and the 6ft 5in defender will be out of action for up to six weeks.

Marvin Elliott is expected to be out of action for another fortnight while he regains match fitness.

City face Coventry today at the Ricoh Arena (3pm).

City: (from) Basso, Weale, B Wilson, Orr, Fontaine, Webster, Carey, McAllister, Murray, Noble, McIndoe, Sproule, L Johnson, Skuse, Williams, Brooker, Adebola, Maynard, Trundle.

Johnson's defensive riches at City

Bristol City boss Gary Johnson could be heading from a defensive nightmare to an embarrassment of riches following the signing of Scottish international defender Andy Webster.

Johnson has seen centre-backs Christian Ribeiro (knee) and Jamie McCombe (cheekbone) lost to injury but with the signing of Webster from Glasgow Rangers, and the return to fitness of Liam Fontaine, the City boss could soon have strong competition to partner captain Louis Carey.

Against Derby it was Bradley Orr who deputised at centre-back when 6ft 5in McCombe was forced off injured with Brian Wilson brought on at right-back.

But with Fontaine and Webster near match fitness Johnson has further options. Webster could be in the team for tomorrow’s trip to Coventry but in any event is on loan for six months meaning his stay will overlap with the recovery of McCombe from a fractured cheek.

Johnson said: “We have brought in (Webster) not as a replacement for Jamie but as an immediate replacement and then Jamie and Webby will have to compete for a place when Jamie comes back of course. It gives us an extra player for a few months.

“We felt we were a bit short in (the centre-back) department, as in numbers not in height, so we thought we needed to bring in another centre back anyway and he was available and raring to go.

“He’s a class player and we need to get him match fit as quickly as we can.

“He needs to get to know us, our way of playing, our philosophy, but I’m pleased with what I’ve seen, and I’ve no qualms about using him when we need to, and it might be Saturday”.

Johnson continued to be coy on any further transfer dealings and admitted he is now looking forward to a period of calm when the transfer window closes on August 31.

He said: “There’re lots of representatives ringing me everyday. These people don’t earn money unless they shift people about and it’s a bit dangerous with your own players.

“It’s not a nice time for a manager at the moment as no one’s quite settled.”

Johnson also confessed he is undecided on City’s No 1 keeper and is making a “week by week” decision on Adriano Basso or Chris Weale. Midfielder Marvin Elliott is still out injured but should return sometime in September.

City travel to Coventry tomorrow aiming to knock Coventry off the top of the table for the second season running despite the Sky Blues’ change in fortunes.

The Robins rocked the Ricoh Arena last September, inflicting the Sky Blues’ first defeat of the season with a resounding 3-0 victory. But Johnson will settle for three points ahead of another emphatic scoreline given the arrival of manager Chris Coleman.

Johnson said: “They always seem to start well in the opening games of the season and we always have to go there to knock them off the top.

“But it’s always nice that we are going there to knock them off, that we are always that close and it would be good to get the results that we’ve got previously.

“We’ll certainly settle for less than that so long as we win.

“Coleman’s a good manager, he’ll have them playing some good football judging from the reports.”

After a late win over Blackpool and conceding a draw against Derby at Ashton Gate, Johnson refused to be drawn on whether Saturday’s encounter will be a sterner test for his team.

He said: “We’ve only had two games so we don’t know what our toughest test is going to be yet, it could have been Blackpool we don’t know.

“It’s certainly our next toughest test."