Bristol City midfielder joins up with National League outfit with transfer on the cards

Robins U23s player missed out on a switch last summer but could make a permanent move in this window.
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Bristol City midfielder James Morton has gone on trial with National League side Notts County as he bids for first-team football opportunities.

The 23-year-old links up with his former U23s boss Luke Williams, who was appointed as the new head coach at Meadow Lane last month.

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Williams, a former Swindon Town manager, spent two years from 2017 to 2019 in charge of Bristol City’s development side and in that time he coached Morton, who has not made a senior breakthrough at Ashton Gate and is now looking for first-team chances elsewhere.

Indeed, Morton almost linked up with Williams last summer with a transfer to MK Dons agreed, following a trial for the midfielder that included playing against Bristol City in pre-season at the Robins High Performance Centre for the Buckinghamshire side.

Unfortunately the deal fell through last August when then head coach Russell Martin left the League One outfit to join Swansea City, replacing the outgoing Steve Cooper, with Luke Williams following as his assistant.

However, Morton could be set to head elsewhere again after not featuring for the Bristol City senior side over the last 12 months, only featuring in games for the U23s in which the Robins made it to the final of the Professional Development League 2 competition last season.

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BristolWorld understands that Morton’s trial ends imminently and a transfer could be announced this week if all goes well.

The Bristolian was even pictured training with Notts County at the weekend in a video released on social media (see above).

An insight is given into Williams’ work as head coach in Nottinghamshire, and it features Morton running around at several points.

Morton has made one appearance from the bench in the League Cup for Bristol City, against Exeter City at Ashton Gate under Dean Holden, but he has yet to appear in a league game.

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A loan spell to Gillingham in 2021 did not work out, while Morton made four league starts at Grimsby Town in the same season too.

A period with Forest Green Rovers the season before saw seven starts in League Two, with another five from the bench, before injury struck.

Bristol City are set to organise several outgoing loans for the new season now that the senior set-up has returned from their training camp in Austria.

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