Bristol City’s fringe players laid down challenge by Nigel Pearson as busy period approaches

Nigel Pearson says that Bristol City’s fringe players will have a part to play in their next block of matches, in what promises to be a busy period for the club.

The first international break of the season has passed and now a busy schedule awaits Pearson and his side. 12 games are to be played over an eight week period, before Championship football is put on hold for the World Cup.

Players will have to be managed carefully with some still working on a programme that caters to their needs. Midfielder Joe Williams for example has been limited to a game a week, whilst Antoine Semenyo has yet to start this season.

The Robins are currently ninth in the league standings and are in the third round of the Carabao Cup. If City are to be successful, the 59-year-old wants his players to be open with him and understanding of his decisions.

“The most important thing is the players buy-in and the players ability to manage themselves,” he said to Robins TV on Wednesday afternoon.

“We believe in more educating players rather than being dictatorial than what we want to do. We’re trying to develop a culture in which the players understand the reasons why we do things and that they feel the benefits from that.”

“There are going to be lots of changes during these 12 games, so we’ve been able to have for the most part relatively settled sides. There will be injuries, there will be suspensions and we will have to deal with that.”

Continuous weeks of two matches will mean for the first time, City could rotate their side to accommodate players.

As is the nature of the squad, Pearson operates on a tight ship with a small number of certified first-team players. The likes of Dylan Kadji and Sam Bell, as well as other Under-21’s players prop up the squad when required on.

Several first-team players however have not been afforded the opportunities they may have come to expect so far.

Summer signing Kane Wilson has yet to start a league match, despite a lack of options at right wing-back. In his place, Mark Sykes has placed consistently, whilst Alex Scott has also filled in that position.

Up front, Chris Martin who was a persistent figure in Pearson’s side, has had to settle for a place on the bench. Nahki Wells has reignited his career and is in-form, as well as the rise of Tommy Conway, who is keeping him out of the side.

For the players who haven’t been afforded regular opportunities, they could be afforded a chance when the manager is considering his team selection for matches played in quick succession.

Pearson said: "What is really important is that players who maybe have not had opportunities or not had too many opportunities will take them when they come because that’s what we will need.

"One of the things that we have talked about quite a lot is the fact that it’s important that we get our performances close to our maximum every time.

“We have proved that we can compete with some of the better sides and even if the result hasn’t gone the way we want we feel we have had strong chances to win games in every game.

"So that’s a real positive but the danger with that is people then assume you can just win other games and it’s not like that. The Championship is full of teams who will feel on their day they are capable of beating anyone."