Squad Has To Be Cut Down

Bristol City boss Keith Millen says that the squad numbers will have to be cut down due to financial restraints at the club.

City lost £11.8-million last year and chairman Steve Lansdown said at the time that players would have to go to help balance the books.

City currently have 29 senior professionals on their books and Millen now has to reduce that number to 24 in January.

Gavin Williams and John Akinde are likely candidates to go as they have been out on loan, Sam Vokes and Tom Williams are likely to follow as their current contracts run out.

"It's a big concern to me because I'm the manager of the football club," said Millen

"It's fantastic that the chairman is backing and supporting the club as he is, but he is right to try and cut the deficit.

"My job is to put out a team that entertains people at Ashton Gate and I will do my best to try and develop the squad with that in mind. That said, we do have too many players and we do need to trim the squad.

"We have to look at ways to bring extra money into the club and we have to become more self-sufficient. One way to achieve that is through the transfer market.

"Part of my job is to keep players happy and, if they are not playing regularly, then we need to address that. It's an on-going situation that we are trying to solve and, hopefully, January might see a bit more business."

"I can only pick 11 players and seven substitutes and, given the size of our squad, there are always going to be three or four who are not even getting a place on the bench. That is not healthy.

"In an ideal world, you want a strong squad that covers the bench, but also one or two places available to start bringing some youngsters through. We're not at that stage at the moment and I'll be sitting down with the chairman and trying to put that right."


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