Nigel Pearson has confirmed Kane Wilson remains another doubt for the weekend trip to Birmingham after jarring his knee in his cameo against Queens Park Rangers.
The right wing-back was left out of the 18-man squad for Tuesday night's draw with Coventry with Cam Pring making a rare appearance on the bench. It's the third time the summer arrival from Forest Green Rovers hasn't featured in a matchday squad this season as he awaits his first league start.
Wilson, 22, was in attendance at Ashton Gate and watched the action alongside the likes of Timm Klose who is dealing with a knee issue. When asked about his absence, Pearson said: "Yes, knee injury. He won’t be out for too long, whether he’s available for the weekend I’m not sure."
He adds to City's growing list of players on the treatment table including Kal Naismith who hobbled off with a calf injury five minutes before half-time. Pearson confirmed they will need "24-48 hours" before determining the severity of the problem.
The timing of Wilson's injury will be particularly frustrating having featured for 17 minutes against QPR on Saturday. He was one of the names pushing for a start after the manager conceded he would be looking to freshen things up with his starting line-up.
It's also the second niggle he's suffered at City after an injury towards the end of pre-season which allowed Mark Sykes to take his opportunity at wing-back which he has retained. With six more matches pencilled in during October, Wilson will be hoping to earn his chance to impress from the start with changes likely.
Pearson will also without Matty James to face Birmingham as the midfielder continues his recovery from a minor groin operation. The City manager put a week timescale on his recovery at the weekend but it appears as though the trip to St Andrews will come too soon.
When asked if he'll be available, Pearson responded: "Probably not, no." City will have Alex Scott available after serving his one-match suspension.
With Naismith a doubt and Klose also in a race against the clock to be fit, Pearson suggested he was open to the idea of playing with a back four. Midfielder Andy King played 50 minutes in the heart of the back three last season and was key in City earning their fourth clean sheet in their last five games at Ashton Gate.
Providing an update on Klose, he said: "Is Timm Klose, closer? I’ve already cracked that gag down there. No idea.
"We’ll see, we’ll see he’s got a bit of grumbly knee and we’ll have to see how he is. But he’s back and he’s in good form in terms of he is himself and he’s training and around the boys which is good.
"We’ll make sure he’s okay, but if you remember when he made his debut at Preston away, he hadn’t played in a long time, he did okay then. We’ll see how the players shape up over the next couple of days and as always, we’ll pick the side that we think is best suited to take on our next opponents which is Birmingham away.
“Well, we’ll have to see what happens or I’ll change to a back four. We don’t have a lot of options, but we’ll make do that’s what it is.”
Tomas Kalas continues to be sidelined with a knee injury with November a realistic timescale on his return while Ayman Benarous remains a long-term absentee with an ACL injury.
SIGN UP: For our daily Robins newsletter, bringing you the latest from Ashton Gate
READ NEXT
