Bristol City’s careful management of midfielder makes for selection issue but academy star could benefit

Nigel Pearson has a key decision to make this week on what game he chooses to play central midfielder Joe Williams in.

Williams, who came back against Peterborough United last week, was given 55 minutes before being replaced by Han-Noah Massengo.

The 25-year-old had recovered from a hamstring injury which has plagued his season, ruling him out for extended periods.

As a result, the central midfielder will now be carefully managed and for the foreseeable future, will be limited to playing just one game a week.

There are three games upcoming in the next ten days. It starts with a trip to the Midlands on Friday to face Stoke City and a home game against Sheffield United, as well as an away trip to Derby County next Saturday.

As such, Nigel Pearson must carefully choose which games he believes Williams will be the most needed for.

Against Peterborough, he was played alongside Matty James and neither did anything of note. The ball seemed to go right through them with only Andreas Weimann, who was playing in the ten role, doing anything as the central midfield trio.

Williams did look slightly leggy and to not even play an hour perhaps showed that his fitness needs to be built up before an extensive run in the side.

That may answer the question on which game to play him at as either he could build his match fitness up against Stoke, a game which is slightly more winnable than Sheffield United.

Alternatively, giving him a break could allow him a few days to get up to speed by just training for Monday’s match, which could also give him enough time to play against Derby too.

The issue at the moment is that there aren’t as many options to call upon when he isn’t playing. Andy King has only just returned to training after a long lay-off and he may be also carefully looked after, though his contract expires at the end of the season, so playing for his future may be in his mind.

That leaves us to Han-Noah Massengo, who isn’t a certified starter in the team any more. Massengo has often started when players have been unavailable or have had to have been rested.

But Pearson himself wasn’t happy with the lack of influence that Massengo, Antoine Semenyo and Zak Vyner had against Peterborough.

Massengo himself has plenty to play for as he has one year remaining on his contract and whilst there is an offer on the table, we are still nowhere closer to reaching an outcome.

He is also attracting the interest of Premier League clubs as well as from those abroad but how can scouts see his true ability if he is limited to a place on the bench?

Another alternative option is Ayman Benarous, who has been lost amongst the pile in recent months. The 18-year-old recently signed a new deal and eight appearances is a fairly decent return for a first season at second tier level.

But should City get three more points on the board then their position in the Championship will be secure and that then perhaps could offer opportunities to the likes of Dylan Kadji and Josh Owers.

The pair have either been named on the bench or part of travelling squads, but have yet to take to the pitch in the league.

Players have to earn the right to be given a first-team opportunity but there has to be something about the pair to be in consideration.

Owers was not included in the under-23’s midweek defeat to Ipswich Town, which could be a sign that a starting place in the squad isn’t too far away.

He spent first part of the season on loan at nearby Bath City, who have helped the likes of many young City players to get experience of professional level football before impressing at their parent club.

The 19-year-old is the son of Gary, who was a popular figure at Ashton Gate, and could follow in the foot steps of Sam Bell, who’s father Mickey Bell played for the club.

Going back to last year, City had to play the younger players and we saw opportunities for the likes of Alex Scott, Sam earson and others, whereas at this point there are still more experienced options to call upon.

But with not much riding on the rest of the season, perhaps now is the time to call upon some of the better players from the academy and see if they are worth integrating into the senior picture with an eye on next season.