City keen to get best out of Twine

We need the right balance of discipline and freedom, says Robins boss Manning

LIAM Manning is confident that Bristol City can bring the best out of new signing Scott Twine by restoring him to the central role he was so effective in during their time working together at MK Dons.

Twine has signed for the Robins on loan from Burnley for the rest of the season having spent the first half of the campaign with Championship rivals Hull City, with Tigers manager Liam Rosenior tending to line up the 24-year-old on the left.

Of Twine’s 20 Championship starts for Hull, only six were through the middle, and while he delivered four goals and three assists, there was a common consensus on Humberside that playing him in wider areas did not bring the best out of him.

Twine flourished under Manning’s management at MK Dons during the 2021/22 season, mostly behind the striker in a 3-4-2-1, as 20 goals and 13 assists helped them reach the play-offs, while he was named League One Player of the Season and earned a £4m move to Burnley.

“You’d have to ask him, but what I’d like to think is it’s how we challenge him,” Manning said when asked as to how he drew the best out of Twine. “How we worked with him, but with creative players like that you have to find the right balance of discipline and structure, but also freedom. Even with Anis (Mehmeti), he steps on the pitch and he plays the role and the position we’re asking him to, but he still brings creative freedom to it which is really, really important.

“There’s different reasons why it didn’t work out, a few injuries at Burnley and then they’re winning so to get in the team can be quite