Nigel Pearson says Kane Wilson's absence from the matchday squad against Middlesbrough came down to a combination of finding the right balance and wanting to take a look at City's academy prospects.
Kal Naismith's return from injury meant Wilson was left out of the side in the entertaining 2-2 draw against Michael Carrick's promotion hopefuls with Pearson preferring 19-year-old right-back Harry Leeson and 20-year-old central defender Callum Wood on the bench - both of whom are awaiting their senior debuts.
Wilson, 23, has yet to make a league start since his free transfer from Forest Green Rovers in the summer having endured a hugely frustrating campaign. He picked up an injury in pre-season that saw Mark Sykes handed his opportunity at wing-back when City were playing with a back three.
Following four Championship substitute appearances, Wilson injured his knee against Queens Park Rangers in October which required surgery. That kept him sidelined for around four months before returning to action with the Under-21s.
Wilson then returned to the bench against Huddersfield last month and was involved in six consecutive matchday squads, earning 10 minutes of pitch time before being overlooked on Monday evening.
When questioned on the reason for his absence, Pearson responded: "Because we have enough attacking players in the squad. I want to look at some of the youngsters.
"It's my decision based on what I think is right for the squad. I want a balanced squad. Kane is an attacking player, he's not a defensive full-back.
"You've seen Harry Leeson play for the Under-21s, he's a good defender. For me, I don't worry about trying to keep players happy for the sake of keeping them happy. I do what is right for the squad. Outside of that, people's egos I'm not bothered about."
Wilson's arrival in BS3 on the back of winning the League Two Player of the Year seemingly put an end to a problem position that hampered City's progress last season. Andi Weimann, Alex Scott and Sam Bell all featured as wing-backs but the switch to a back four in the New Year has raised question marks about where the player fits into the system.
Adding to that, George Tanner has cemented his place as first choice right-back as he continues to progress in the Championship with a regular run of football. The former Carlisle defender's form has been a big positive, including another impressive outing against Middlesbrough.
Pearson has spoken about Wilson's recovery in recent weeks, suggesting that he still needs considerable time to rebuild his fitness. When addressing his lack of game time at the end of last month, the City manager responded: "He’s still got a lot of work to do to get to the fitness levels that the rest of the squad have, so Kane is playing catch-up.
“It’s difficult especially when games are coming thick and fast which means the training programme isn’t as intense as he needs it to be. That’s always a problem for players who aren’t starting, they have to work even harder.
“With the type of injury he’s come back from, he’s going to have to manage that as well, it complicates the equation but he just needs to make sure when he trains, he trains flat out all the time until he gets opportunities.
“He’s available again which is good for us we;ve got another first-team player available but we’ve got youngsters who are catching up too. That’s something about how to keep the motivation to finish the seasons strongly. Well, I think that can be driven by the competition within the squad.
“If you look at the forward positions, we have a lot of competition, so that will keep that pretty keen at that end. Because we’ve got lower numbers at the back, in particular, it means when players get their opportunity they need to take it and keep people out.”
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