Bristol City boss’ strong message to Andi Weimann and others ahead of busy schedule

Nigel Pearson says that Bristol City captain Andi Weimann and his teammates will play where they are told when they are called upon by him.

Weimann was out for a period of four matches after suffering a hamstring injury against Swansea City in the FA Cup in January. The 31-year-old came back with a substitute appearance against Preston, playing for two minutes and then featuring against Norwich City, again off of the bench.

In the build-up to the Norwich match, he was announced as captain, after being nominated by his teammates, but his status did not guarantee him a start. The Austria international did eventually get a start against Wigan Athletic after Pearson made three changes to freshen up the team.

Weimann took the place of the in-form Mark Sykes, who had scored five goals in six matches before dropping to the bench. A change in shape is somethin that Weimann and his teammates have had to accustom to, and against the Lactics on Wednesday, he was deployed as a right-sided winger which isn’t nenecessarily his strongest position. In his career campaign last season, Weimann played behind Antoine Semenyo and Chris Martin, and got 32 goal contributions in 47 matches, hitting the net 22 times and supplying his teammates 10 times. Alex Scott has assumed that role however and held that position, with Weimann instead having to be moved to be accomodated.

“If they want to play in the side they’ll play where the team needs them to go,” said Pearson. “Andi’s best position is the ten position but Alex Scott has been playing very well there. If Andi wants to play in the side, he needs to play where the team needs him to be.”

Fortunately, City’s injury situation is one that is manageable and things are improving. Kal Naismith’s recent calf problem has him sidelined for a few weeks at least, whilst Tommy Conway is set to return in March, after suffering a hamstring tendon injury in the early part of January. Ayman Benarous remains out following a complication in his recovery from an anterior cruciate ligament injury and will not play a part for the remainder of the campaign

Kane Wilson, who has been out since October, is making a step up in his recovery and played for the Under-21’s against QPR on Monday in his second game back since jarring his knee. Wilson is still a few weeks off from coming in to consideration with the first-team and will need to continue improving in training and building up his match fitness before he returns to the 18-man squad.

Defence is an area that City are short on, especially at centre-back with Rob Atkinson and Zak Vyner starting and Tomas Kalas the only option off of the bench, but the make-up of City’s squad can allow for some subtle changes. Cameron Pring and George Tanner, both who have been starting at full-back, can both play as centre-backs on their respective sides, whilst Andy King has played in the same position this season.

“It’s the same for everybody, it’s really quite positive for us,” admitted Pearson when speaking about the versatility of his side. Where we are thin on the ground is options at the back but having said that we have versatile players who can play at the back, it could mean we can switch things around where people play.

“I think we’re in a decent position in terms of availability and we’ve got players who want to be here. Give me five less players any day of the week if they want to be here and play, simple.”