From the post-January glow as Nigel Pearson’s squad options suddenly looked bountiful, Bristol City are having to negotiate the next week before the international squad with barely enough players to fill out an 18-man matchday squad.
Pearson has one fit senior centre-back in Zak Vyner, a situation that won’t change until Kal Naismith returns - if you even consider him a centre-back - towards the end of the month, and potentially two centre-midfielders in Alex Scott and Andy King.
That situation could be improved if Matty James is cleared to play against Blackpool today but with games on the horizon against Luton Town and then Swansea City, even if the 31-year-old can play at Ashton Gate, it seems a stretch to expect him to then play three matches inside eight days, something we’ve not even considered from King’s perspective.
But those are potential problems for a different day and, for now, Pearson must focus on overcoming a Tangerines side led by Mick McCarthy, so you know exactly how they’ll line up and their identity, who drew 0-0 with leaders Burnley last Saturday.
Here’s how we think City will line up in their last game at Ashton Gate for three weeks…
Goalkeeper and defence
We’d love to open up a considerable debate and discussion about who will be occupying the defensive positions in Pearson’s starting XI but, in truth, it’s simply going to be a repeat of those who lined up against Huddersfield Town on Tuesday.
With no Rob Atkinson (ACL), Tomas Kalas (knee) and Naismith (calf), the manager’s only options at centre-back are Zak Vyner +1, and his plus one at present is Cam Pring with Pearson indicating on Friday that George Tanner is the next best option, should he have to change things in that area.
For now, Pring did enough - albeit without every truly being troubled by a pretty limp Terriers outfit - to keep his place, although Jerry Yates could prove a greater challenge for the 25-year-old who admitted the aspect of the position he really needs to focus on is the physical side of the game.
Outside that duo should be Tanner, who will continue to keep Kane Wilson out of the equation until he can convince his manager he’s ready, and Jay Dasilva on the left. It was interesting to hear Pearson reveal that Duncan Idehen has once again trained with the first-team, as he understandably assesses his options in the Under-21s, but the 20-year-old doesn’t seem like he’s in the senior conversation just yet.
Oh, we forgot to mention who will be playing in goal but we all know it’s Max O’Leary.
Midfield
James dictates everything in terms of this part of the team; if the 31-year-old is cleared to start then he’ll start alongside Andy King at the base of midfield with Alex Scott just ahead of the veteran duo.
Pearson was initially coy about his status but then opened up a little more on Friday by conceding James is effectively dealing with two injuries to his ankle - an impact from the challenge, which is as much about pain management, and a twist which is the more serious aspect.
Given that situation we have to lean towards the likelihood that he won’t be ready and Luton on Wednesday is more likely which then opens up two alternatives for the manager.
The first would be to revert to how sort of how City played 55 minutes against Cardiff with Scott retreating into a deeper role alongside King (instead of James) and then captain Andi Weimann in the advanced No10 position.
There are a number of arguments for this being the common sense move: City are at home and therefore will be expected to seize the initiative, Weimann’s experience, the fact he's a known offensive quality in that position and that his position in the squad means he seems to be the next man up in terms of who steps into the starting XI.
However, in a game against McCarthy’s Blackpool with the wily old fox already declaring City a possession-based team, therefore as good as giving away the fact that his team won’t be expecting much of the ball, is Weimann the right candidate for that sort of a game?
Yes, in a more obviously forward position but in midfield there will be a need for ball retention and patience - something, with the greatest of respect, isn’t quite part of the Austrian’s game. City’s roadrunner likes to play at 100mph, attacking space to get things moving… all of the time. Blackpool will likely sit in three banks from attacking midfield back to the defence and demand the Robins play through them before utilising their own counter-attacking abilities (Josh Bowler is a clear and present danger).
The question therefore is: if not Weimann, then who? Well, the alternative is a full debut for Omar Taylor-Clarke who is a neat and tidy technical midfielder who can put his foot in and his time appears to be nearing having spent several months around the first-team.
Is this the time Pearson would like to award the 19-year-old his big bow? Probably not, as the latter stages of the season would be better with the manager warning over potentially damaging experiences for youngsters ala Joe Low and Ryley Towler, but he may not have a choice.
The other is to bring Mark Sykes back into the 10, and then shift Weimann further forward to the right-wing berth. He was almost thinking out loud on Friday when he accepted the possibility of that, only to counter that mental decision with not wanting to affect the dynamics of the team with the Republic of Ireland international City’s most consistent attacking player over the last month or so.
Playing it safe, it just seems too big a call to select a largely untested rookie in Taylor-Clarke ahead of the team’s captain in Weimann and the 31-year-old looks the safest bet to start, should James not be given the green light.
Attack
We’ve just ummed and ahhed over what the midfield line-up will look like and you can very much do the same with the attack as Pearson restored Nahki Wells to the team on Tuesday, showed great faith in Sam Bell as the 20-year-old made a fifth successive start, flipping between a left-sided and central role, dropped Anis Mehmeti to the bench, but still the Robins went scoreless.
Mehmeti showed some impact off of the bench on Tuesday and you just get the impression, given the game is at home and with the volume of the ball that City should receive, it makes a degree of sense to bring the Albanian back into the starting XI. We’d like to say Bell will be the man to drop out but we keep typing variations of that sentence and it doesn’t seem to happen.
Does Bell then move into the centre and displace Wells, to return to the bench? Based on recent evidence you’d think so, but then we return to the likely theme of the game - City having lots of the ball, Blackpool sitting deep etc - and it leans more towards a contest for the Bermudian who operates well in tight spaces and has the penalty box nous the younger striker is still developing.
Pearson may well have learned a lesson from Cardiff in which the Bluebirds nullified a lot of Bell’s threat in behind and when the Bristolian looked to come short, found himself smothered; Wells can do both and has the knowhow to make the most of situations when he has defenders bearing down on him or can make quick darts in behind.
Could Harry Cornick come into the mix as the mobile central striker who can perhaps be a bit more withdrawn and if Weimann is playing the two can even exchange mid-game? Again, it’s another possibility. A lot could have been dictated by what unfolded on the training ground on Friday, as dictated Pearson’s decision-making last weekend at Cardiff.
What we do know is that, barring a late re-jig in midfield, Sykes will be on the right due to his almost unfathomable energy levels and because, quite simply, he’s earned it.
Bristol City (4-3-3): Max O’Leary; George Tanner, Zak Vyner, Cam Pring, Jay Dasilva; Andy King, Alex Scott, Andi Weimann; Mark Sykes, Nahki Wells, Anis Mehmeti
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