Bristol City v Sheffield United injury news as eleven ruled out and four are doubts

Bristol City hope to build on their point from the weekend as they host Sheffield United under the floodlights at Ashton Gate on Tuesday night.

The Robins drew 1-1 with Anglo-Welsh rivals Swansea City on Saturday in what was a fair result in reflection of the game. Tommy Conway opened the scoring in the first-half in what was a dominant start from the hosts. Swansea took control after Conway’s goal but had to wait until the final 15 minutes to score their equaliser with Olivier Ntcham coming off the bench to score after a corner wasn’t cleared.

It was a different outcome for Paul Heckingbottom’s side who won 2-0 away at West Brom, who were under the stewardship of Carlos Corberan for the first time. Iliman Ndiaye and Oli McBurnie scored inside the first 23 minutes of the match in the West Midlands in what was the other early kick-off.

After the latest set of results, City are 14th in the current league standings whilst Tuesday night’s opponents Sheff Utd are in fourth position. A win for the Blades could see them move up a place to third position whereas for City if they won and results went in their favour they could move up to 10th.

Both teams have their fair share of selection problems in what is a busy period ahead of the World Cup. Here is how it looks like in both the Bristol City and Sheffield United camps ahead of Tuesday’s clash.

Bristol City injury news

Kal Naismith and Tomas Kalas are two confirmed absentees with both ruled out with calf injuries. It was confirmed on Thursday that Kalas’ injury wasn’t serious but that he would be out for the next couple of weeks. Kalas had only returned to action in the last fortnight after a seven-month lay-off and his current injury is an extension as to what saw him miss such a long period. In the case of Naismith, he injured his calf in the goalless draw against Coventry and it wasn’t thought to be serious, but would rule him out for ten days, which started from October 4. The 30-year-old has been out longer than that and a time frame has not been placed on the former Luton Town man.

Ayman Benarous is another long-term absentee having suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury towards the end of last season. Benarous was seen with the squad on the weekend and has made huge strides in stepping up his recovery, but will not be rushed back to action. Summer signing Kane Wilson will not play for City until at least the New Year after undergoing an operation for a knee injury sustained in the defeat to Queens Park Rangers.

As well as City’s injuries, there has also been a bug which has gone around the first-team. Three players were isolated from the squad last week and did not return until Thursday. It transpired on match-day with Rob Atkinson withdrawn 50 minutes from kick-off due to illness. Andi Weimann and Timm Klose were not a part of the match-day squad and they will be monitored. Nigel Pearson admitted that Alex Scott had come down with it but he was able to put in an 80-minute shift before being substituted. The 59-year-old did admit that things could get worse rather than better ahead of Tuesday, but that hopefully players will have recovered from it by then.

Sheffield United injury news

Several Blades players are picking up hamstring problems with Rhian Brewster the latest. The former Liverpool striker came on as a second-half substitute but only lasted 11 minutes.

Rhys Norrington-Davies is out after suffering the same injury. The wing-back is set to miss the World Cup with Wales after being ruled out for the next four weeks.

Max Lowe suffered a similar issue after making a 50-yard sprint against Hull City. His return is set to be in the coming fortnight.

Ismaila Coulibaly, who is yet to make an appearance for the club this season is to miss out. He hasn’t made his competitive debut yet but a knee operation in the summer has ruled him out until the New Year.

Highly rated striker Daniel Jebbison is out for an extended period after ankle ligament damage, suffering the injury in training. He does not require surgery but will be out for a ‘while’.

Sheffield United are without another wing-back in Jayden Bogle who suffered a reaction to his knee operation. Bogle had only returned after an eight-month lay-off but his pain flared up and now he will be out until after the World Cup.

Sander Berge, who was subject of a move to Chelsea on Deadline Day, is also out in what is a lengthy injury list. He suffered an ankle injury against QPR at the start of the month and ruptured a ligament.

To complete the injury list, long-term absentee Jack O’Connell is also not in contention. He has been out since September 2020 and has had two operations, but is yet to return.