Big boost for Bristol City at Derby County as long-term absentees return from injury

Nigel Pearson could be able to call upon three returning players for Bristol City’s Sky Bet Championship clash with Derby County on Saturday.

As the season draws sooner to a close, there is a cleaner bill of health for the Robins’ remaining three matches.

Andy King, Callum O’Dowda and George Tanner have become available for selection, whilst Joe Williams is also in line to return.

King has been out with a hamstring injury since mid January but was an unused substitute on Monday.

The 33-year-old has his second surgery of the season and is out of contract in the summer, so he may potentially be playing for his future.

Right-back George Tanner could also be ready for a return to first-team action, having not featured since the defeat to Queens Park Rangers in December.

Tanner in recent weeks has been playing for the under-23’s side and could play a part in the remaining few fixtures to showcase his worth.

“Andy King was back in the squad,” said Pearson to Robins TV.

“George Tanner may even come into the reckoning this weekend too and Joe Williams will be back in contention for selection as well."

For Callum O’Dowda, his future is similar to Kings, which is also uncertain as he is out of contract, whilst he has also been on the sidelines.

O’Dowda has been out since February with a knee injury with the original time scale of four to six weeks, being longer than expected.

"Callum has been training regularly with the first team for a couple of weeks so there is potential for him to be available as well, we’ll see."

As well as returns, there is also positive news on the status of Antoine Semenyo, who came off in the draw with Sheffield United.

He was substituted for Nahki Wells in the 70th minute and amid fears of an injury that has plagued him in recent months, Semenyo seems okay to feature on Saturday.

There is a doubt though on whether Jay Dasilva will feature after coming off just after half-time, with there being an element of caution on whether to include him for the weekend.

After scoring the match winning goal against Stoke City on Good Friday, he was replaced early in the second-half on Easter Monday for Ayman Benarous.

The 23-year-old twisted his knee but will be given the option to prove his fitness in a fitness test ahead of the match.

"I think Antoine will be fine,” said Pearson.

“There’s a question mark over Jay at the moment but I’m not going to rule him out until the last moment as he has been one of our more consistent players over the last three or four months. I currently won’t risk him if there is any sort of doubt."