Twine was in our plans – Manning
BRISTOL City head coach Liam Manning was ready to bring on Scott Twine against Swansea City on Sunday to try to force a late winner – although Rob Dickie’s goal ensured that the playmaker remained on the bench with the former’s injury comeback put back for another week.
Twine has made just one appearance for the Robins since signing on loan from Premier League Burnley until the end of the season, being plagued by a quad issue for seven weeks.
The 24-year-old was an unused substitute last month against QPR before suffering a small setback, but he made his return to the matchday squad on Sunday and, as the game drifted towards the final 20 minutes, with the score at 0-0, he warmed up in front of the Lansdown Stand in preparation for his introduction, only to then sit back down on the bench when Dickie converted Joe Williams’ cross in the 73rd minute.
Given Twine had only been sporadically involved in training over the previous five days, boss Manning did not want to risk him unnecessarily, and a full week at the High Performance Centre should put him in a better position to play against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
“He was in my head, (for) his general play, but also his set-piece delivery, he’s so dangerous that, as you saw for the goal, set-pieces are massive, at any level,” Manning said. “He was one that me and Hoggy (Chris Hogg, assistant boss) had spoken about.
“We knew we only had the one moment, so it would have to be three changes and then obviously we scored and it changed what we needed. It allows us to then go, right, give him another solid week’s training to help him.
“We need everybody all in with what we’re doing and, especially at the moment, we need as many available as possible.
“He was available, but (it would have been) minimal minutes, to be totally honest. What we have now got is an opportunity, we’re training Monday, off on Tuesday and then another three days work in before West Brom.”
City remain without defender Kal Naismith (hamstring), George Tanner (MCL) and Matty James (achilles), with the latter seen arriving at Ashton Gate shortly after the team bus and walking into the stadium in slight discomfort.
James and Tanner have undergone injections for their respective injuries and will be assessed over the course of the week, with the head coach not willing to put a timeframe on their potential returns just yet.
“George had a little injection in his knee to speed up recovery,” Manning added. “It was slightly irritating him when he was running on the treadmill the other day, so I need to speak to the medical staff. I’m hoping he’ll be available at the weekend, but I need to check with Procs (Andrew Proctor, interim head of medical).
“Jamo had an injection as well. Obviously, his previous with his achilles, his history behind that. Jamo could probably be a physio himself in terms of he knows his body better than anybody, he’s out of the boot, he’s progressing. The actual scans are showing his achilles looks really good, so I’ll get in tomorrow and find out where they’re at and what their weeks look like.”
Left-back Cam Pring continues to carry a small injury which is not preventing his availability but does seem to be impacting his performances slightly, with the 26-year-old struggling at times to defend Swansea winger Ronald, as had been the case five days earlier up against Ipswich Town’s Wes Burns. Manning insists Pring’s problem is not anything serious and can be properly treated at the end of the season.
“It’s manageable, it’s nothing to keep talking about, it’s just something that will be dealt with in the summer, it’s nothing major,” said Manning. “He’s had a heavy week and an extremely physical week.”
City are 13th in the Sky Bet Championship table – nine points above the drop zone – following their win over Swansea.