Football Pearson looking long-term as he waits for fitness update on Matty
NIGEL Pearson admits he won’t gamble on Matty James long-term fitness for the sake of one game but with the nagging feeling that nobody in the Bristol City squad, who is presently fit, can replace what the midfielder brings to the Robins.
James left the field in the second half of the 3-0 defeat to Birmingham with a foot injury, which he suffered four days previously against Barnsley, with Pearson revealing after the game that he was pleased to have managed to get about an hour out of the 30-year-old.
James will be assessed at the Robins High Performance Centre today before the squad make the trip up the M5 to play Coventry City tomorrow with the manager conscious he doesn’t want to aggravate the injury further, for the purpose of one match before the international break allows an extra period of rest; albeit an important one given the Robins’ run of one win from their last five games.
But with veteran Andy King out until next month having undergone hamstring surgery and Joe Williams doubtful after only returning to training this week following his latest injury issue, it would leave City light on numbers, experience and leadership in a key area of the field.
“Matty’s had this knock on his foot which has proved problematic for him over these last two games so we’ll see whether he’s able to make the game because they’re got a short break before the next fixture,” said Pearson, with the visit of Blackburn Rovers to Ashton Gate on November 20 following the Coventry game.
“I’m not going to make decisions for the sake of one game that would
put a player’s longer-term fitness at risk. We could do with a positive result to go into the international break so that would be very beneficial but the longer-term situation is more important to the club.”
James’ departure at St Andrew’s led to an alarming lack of authority and organisation in City’s midfield with Birmingham ripping through a Robins side which Pearson went on to describe as a “soft touch”, given how easy they succumbed to the hosts’ abrasive style in the second half.
“It would have been relatively obvious when he went off (his importance) as there was no control,” Pearson added. “For a person who is highly regarded, highly respected within the game and among his peers, I never hear anyone shouting from the rooftops about his performances which really does quite surprise me.
“Because it’s pretty obvious to me he’s among the most influential players we’ve got. He’s the best midfield coach we’ve got at the club, basically, because when he’s on there and playing with some of the younger players, they’re always looking to him to give them balance.
“It’s a lot to ask of some of our younger players to play with control. Yeah, they have the benefit of youth, energy, athleticism and willingness but what they don’t have is the knowledge to go with it.
“He’s a very important player, as is Andy King. Kingy is a different type of player, but those types of influences within the dressing room are very important. When you consider Andy or Joe haven’t been available recently, there’s a lot of emphasis on Matty to keep that area of the pitch in some sort of order. But he’s a good pro, a very good player and we’re lucky to have him.”
As evidence of his importance, only Andi Weimann (1,440) has played more minutes than James (1,403) this season among all of City’s outfield players, and before Tuesday night he had completed 90 minutes in all of the Robins’ previous 15 Championship matches.
Tyreeq Bakinson and Han-Noah Massengo would be the obvious choices to be selected at the base of midfield but their pairing on Tuesday in the wake of James’ injury contributed to City’s downfall as neither was able to retain any sense of shape or structure.
The manager could bring Zak Vyner into a defensive midfield role, with the 24-year-old having played there under Dean Holden, but he too is largely inexperienced, with options beyond that being more attack-minded players such as Kasey Palmer or Callum O’Dowda - who played centrally on occasions under Lee Johnson - or teenagers Ayman Benarous and Alex Scott.
“We’ll see what the performance is like if he (James) doesn’t make it,” Pearson added, in response to whether or not City have the personnel to compensate for the control James would usually bring.
“That’s something you can ask retrospectively, if that is the case, rather than pre-empt it because the young players that we have are very capable players. I mentioned the other night, one of our biggest problems is consistency and that’s something you can’t expect, realistically, to get from young players week-in, week-out.”