Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson will miss tonight's game with Reading, the club have confirmed.
Pearson has undergone a "scheduled routine medical procedure" and therefore assistant Curtis Fleming will take charge against the Royals. City add that Pearson is planning to return to the dugout for Sunday's trip to Swansea.
Reported on City's official website, Pearson said: “I would like to thank everyone at the football club for their support.
“I wish Curtis, the staff and the players all the best for today’s game and look forward to returning to work as soon as possible.”
It is the fourth game Pearson has missed this season. He was forced to miss the games against Peterborough and Millwall with Covid and then against Coventry with a "Covid-related condition".
Pearson was in the dugout at Bloomfield Road on Saturday as City lost 3-1 to Blackpool but Fleming conducted media duties, via Zoom, from the Robins High Performance Centre on Monday.
The manager recently spoke to Mark Clemmit on the EFL podcast where he openly described the impact football has on his life.
He said: "I think it's absorbing and it can take over large parts of your life so I think learning to manage that is a very important part.
"What I have to come to terms with in many ways is that because I get engrossed in it, it's not necessarily good for your health in some ways. But I suppose it's a drug as well."
When asked whether Covid has changed his outlook on management, Pearson responded: "The easy answer is yes. It's had a big impact on my health. Physically, it's been a tough couple of years but the Covid situation is going to be around for a long, long time.
"I can only look at it from my own perspective and I think I took for granted how much I relied very much on being relatively fit to do the job. On both occasions of dealing with being ill they were both very different in terms of symptoms and I'm still dealing with it now. It hasn't gone away.
"What I've learned in a way is manage my expectations in what I can and can't do."
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