Nigel Pearson believes Bristol City midfielder Omar Taylor-Clarke was “outstanding” on his full debut as the teenager took his big opportunity with panache amid the Robins small squad and late-season injury issues.
Two months on from his first senior appearance for City in the FA Cup at the Swansea.com Stadium, Taylor-Clarke was named in Pearson’s starting XI against the same opposition and at the same venue, playing 80 minutes in the 2-0 defeat to Russell Martin's Swansea City.
Taylor-Clarke displayed real confidence on the ball, showed tenacity in the tackle, was positionally sound and didn’t appear daunted or overwhelmed by the occasion. Although he’s been a regular for the Under-21s since last season it represented a considerable step up for the 19-year-old given he started 2022/23 on loan at Yate Town in the Southern League.
He’s been included in or around the matchday 18 since the turn of the year, has trained regularly with the first-team, while injuries to central midfielders Joe Williams, Matty James and Kal Naismith and the frequency of league games - with the Robins playing five in the last 15 days - enabled such an opportunity.
“I thought he was outstanding. I don't think people will know him at all and he gets opportunities because our numbers are low at the moment,” Pearson said. “I was saying in another interview I wouldn't swap that because it's created some opportunities.
“We've picked some injuries up that we've preferred not to have but we've got an opportunity now just to reset and try and finish the season as strongly as we can. Hopefully, we'll have two or three more players who will complement what is a talented squad we had out there. I just look forward to the rest of the season.”
Pearson revealed those “two or three more players” should be striker Tommy Conway, who’s been sidelined since January with a hamstring injury, Naismith, absent since February 4 due to a calf problem and who provides further options in defence and midfield, and his trusted lieutenant James, who's loss over the last three matches has once again illuminated his importance.
City have 11 days before their next Championship assignment, against Reading at Ashton Gate on April 1, providing an opportunity for an overworked squad, relative to numbers, a chance to rest and recover. Conway, Naismith and James can also be integrated back into the group and step up their workload.
The Robins are losing four first-team players to international duty: Alex Scott (England Under-20s), Andi Weimann (Austria), Anis Mehmeti (Albania) and Mark Sykes (Republic of Ireland), with obvious concerns around potential injuries and the fact they’re playing even more minutes in a season.
Indeed, with reference to the defeats at Luton Town and Swansea City in the last five days, Pearson noted there has been evidence of mental fatigue in his squad when asked to discuss the adaptation between a 4-3-3 and midfield diamond over the two fixtures.
“We've got three groups within our squad which is; internationals who go away and we hope they come back fit; we've got players who have played lots and lots of games and need to recover but they still have programmes of work to do; we then have a smaller group who need to do some work because they're playing catch-up,” Pearson added.
“It's not a big break this time around but what it gives is a chance for players and staff alike to come in with a renewed enthusiasm to work and push on from here. It's what it is about, anything [as in plans] outside of that, no.
“The formation change, we've got players that are capable of doing it. They are bright enough and there are things you can work out, the last two games the things that have not worked, basically it has been decision-making, I would suggest more that is down to mental fatigue.”
City enter the break 14th in the Championship and with a minus one goal difference and although the last two losses have tempered any optimism around a late promotion push, that status of relative mid-table security does represent some progression.
The Robins are five points and four places better off than they were after 38 games last season, where they then proceeded to take 12 points from their remaining eight games to finish on 55 points and in 17th; a four-point and two-place improvement on the 2020/21 campaign.
The injuries, however, have further emphasised the work Pearson and technical director Brian Tinnion need to conduct in the summer, not so much on the general desire to raise the level of quality but more in a positional sense. With the exception of being able to rotate his attacking players, the manager has had minimal flexibility in selection anywhere else on the pitch.
“The context of where we are with the group of players we have; I’m reasonably satisfied that the players within our squad have made shifts in the right direction,” Pearson said. “I don’t moan about not having too many players available because I actually prefer working with a group of players who actually want to be here.
“That’s all that I’m bothered about really and we’ll deal with the setbacks along the way because the setbacks recently, we’ve had a few players who are having to play back-to-back games that could do with a breather, and we’ve also got players playing one or two out of position and it’s only upfront we have the luxury of being able to change stuff around.
“Moving forward we need to address the balance of the squad, but we will do (that) in the summer.”
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