Fleming expects stronger City squad after international break

CURTIS Fleming believes Bristol City will have at least four players back at their disposal when the Championship reconvenes after the international break later this month.

City’s form has plummeted since mid-October, with the Robins having lost five of their last six games, with the most recent being the 3-2 reverse at Coventry City on Saturday.

That game was the first Championship encounter Matty James has missed all season, after he aggravated a foot injury, while centreback Rob Atkinson, who has started 15 of a possible 17 games, was also ruled out with a tight calf. Andi Weimann, as one of five outfield players to have started all three games last week, was running a little gingerly moments before fulltime against Coventry but Fleming insisted there were no fresh injuries to be concerned about.

“No major injuries, (there was) fatigue in a couple of the guys after three games in a week but we’ve had no bad injuries,” said Fleming. “We go into the international break and hopefully we can have a few people back.

“Hopefully Matty James won’t be too long, Rob Atkinson, Bakes (Nathan Baker), Antoine Semenyo ... so we’ll have a few back into the squad. But, at the moment, it’s just about this group and it’s about what we do and what we talk. The dressing room was very, very frank and very honest and there’s no hiding from it (the bad run).”

With Nigel Pearson choosing to operate with a reduced squad, due to financial and strategic reasons, any injuries are often more keenly felt due to the relative lack of options in certain positions.

However, so far City have been able to avoid the constant problems that decimated their 2020-21 campaign after a strong start under Dean Holden.

James was certainly a major miss in the final 34 minutes of the 3-0 defeat against Birmingham City and then the loss at Coventry City, with the Robins unable to maintain a consistent foothold in possession after the Sky Blues were reduced to 10 men for the second half.

Atkinson may well have started the game at the Coventry Building Society Arena had he been declared fit, with replacement Zak Vyner at fault for the penalty early in the second half which levelled the scores at 1-1 and reinstalled confidence in the hosts that the game was there for the taking.

Baker has been sidelined since October 23 after being hospitalised following a head collision during the 3-0 defeat against West Brom and gives Pearson an additional centre-back option or a more physical presence at left-back.

Semenyo has played just 95 minutes this season, across four substitute appearances, after undergoing knee surgery in May, with City carefully managing his workload since and the forward would bring some much-needed pace and width in the final third.