Bristol City weigh up move for Forest Green Rovers starlet to solve problem right-back position

Bristol City are considering whether to make a move for Forest Green Rovers right-back Kane Wilson.

The 22-year-old has enjoyed a standout campaign with the League Two leaders and is attracting plenty of interest from League One and City’s fellow Championship clubs.

In playing right wing-back, Wilson has grabbed 13 assists and three goals from his flank, with the Green top of the fourth tier by six points and having played a 3-4-1-2 formation for most of the season.

As a sign of his growing stature, Wilson is rated by the WhoScored.com website - using Opta match statistics - as the third best player in League Two this campaign to date.

And with the former West Bromwich Albion youth product out of contract this coming summer, the defender is unlikely to cost very much, with just development costs to Forest Green to be agreed, should Wilson head elsewhere.

The Robins are behind several other interested sides currently however, and even though Nigel Pearson has publicly suggested that he knows where he wants to recruit, Bristol City must decide whether Wilson could play right-back with the manager ultimately favouring a back four.

Pearson has already brought in George Tanner from League Two previously and is working hard to help the former Carlisle United player become a top Championship-level defender.

As a result, the Robins may look for a more experienced option to bolster what has been a problem position for the Ashton Gate side all season, though no final decision has been relayed.

Some 10 players have been fielded down the right at times across this season, and Andi Weimann is the latest player to have been asked to fill in at right-back, despite being the club’s top scorer and most potent attacker.

Pearson was asked by BristolWorld this week whether Weimann could be eyed as a long-term solution at wing-back.

"For someone who doesn't like playing three at the back? I like to have a few adaptable players in the squad, where we can play different formations. I've never really enjoyed playing five at the back too much,” admitted the manager.

“I think we need to have some established knowledgeable defenders whether they’re wide players, wide defenders, or not,” he added.

“When people ask me about that, it’s nice to have full-backs who can play wing-backs, nice to have wingers who can play at wing-back, nice to have full-backs who can play as wingers but the position remains wide and that’s the key to that.

“George [Tanner] is a player given time that will be able to play full-back or wing-back. That’s the key to it.

“Moving forward, it would be nice to have full-backs who can defend and stop crosses, wing-backs who can defend and stop crosses but can also give us something going forward too.”

Whether the Robins do go for Wilson may depend on their other transfer plans and offers coming in for their best young talents, with the club having to manage their financial resources carefully, and the last reported club accounts of a pre-tax loss of £38.4m weighing heavily on the club’s future strategy.

Pearson has previously suggested that the priority for the club is to remedy the centre-back situation, make the side harder to score against, and to also establish an identity as a club.

“Our main objective still is to have dominant centre-backs who can deal with the demands of the game. That’s the first thing,” Pearson explained recently.

“Full-backs are nice on a wish list but I think everybody has heard the saying about building through the middle, and that will always remain the priority. So at the moment, where we thought we were relatively strong, we’ve underachieved this year. So that remains the priority,” he explained.

The Robins have conceded the third most goals in the league this season but have had more joy in attack, currently ranking 11th for goals scored.