When City return for pre-season with testing first up for Robins

The majority of the City squad have been able to enjoy a little more than a month off after a mixed Championship campaign came to a close with a win over Stoke City at Ashton Gate, under the management of interim boss Roy Hodgson, in early May.

For some, breaks will have been delayed as a result of international duty and play-off campaigns. Yu Hirakawa and Josh Stokes' seasons both ended at Wembley late last month, while Jason Knight linked up with the Republic of Ireland for a training camp and friendly fixture against Grenada.

It is not unusual for players with such involvement to be afforded extended breaks. For the majority of Skubala's new squad, though, it will be back to business from next week, with fitness testing at the High Performance first on the agenda.

"We're back and testing on [June] 25," the manager told BBC Radio Bristol when asked if a date had been set for pre-season training. "That's sorted, and we're all good to go.

"The lads will be back in and testing for the first few days. Then, we're in on the Monday; on the grass and off we go."

When quizzed on what he'd be doing between now and then, Skubala added, "Loads of work. Lots of meetings, lots of discussions, [we're] trying to add to the group. Obviously, the window opens next week [at the time of recording], which is important to us.

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"Behind the scenes, we're full on, and we're fully going. Holiday is done, rest is done; we have to get that as managers and staff, but now we're full steam ahead."

The exact details of the Robins' pre-season schedule have yet to be confirmed, but the Reds have already announced a handful of friendly fixtures against relatively local Football League and National League opposition.

City will travel to Swindon Town on Saturday, July 25 before making the short trip to Forest Green Rovers on Wednesday, July 29. Three days later, Skubala's side will play two fixtures, with two different sides likely to take on Plymouth Argyle and Exeter City at Home Park and St James' Park on Saturday, August 1, respectively.

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If those fixtures were to be played today, the Reds would have a smaller-than-usual pool of options to pick from. So far, four first-team players: Mark Sykes, Sam Morsy, Harry Cornick and Sinclair Armstrong, have been confirmed to be departing Ashton Gate this summer, while Radek Vitek, Neto Borges, Delano Burgzorg and George Earthy have returned to their parent clubs.

The departure of Vitek, in particular, has left City's goalkeeping ranks rather bare. Joe Lumley remains under contract for a further season, as does Lewis Thomas, but Skubala knows an addition between the posts is needed and preferably sooner rather than later.

"I'd like it to happen before pre-season starts," the 49-year-old admitted when questioned on the need for a new stopper. "You're right, we need a goalkeeper. We've got Joe in there as well, but we want to strengthen that unit.

"We want to make sure that we're in a strong position with that unit and, again, there's lots of work going on behind the scenes with that. We're in a good place, but you're right, we need to add to that unit, for sure."