Bristol City’s midfield hit by fresh injury as door opens for Joe Williams and others

Bristol City have suffered another setback in midfield following Andy King needing surgery to his hamstring and with Matty James yet to recover from a continuing, niggly foot injury.

Bristol World can reveal that Kasey Palmer is out for one to two months with a minor knee complaint, which saw the playmaker unable to play against Cardiff City U23s last week.

The 25-year-old will need a period of rest and rehab to overcome the injury, but the prognosis is better than initially first feared, although the knock does mean that the Robins have one fewer senior option to call on in the middle, with King and James out too.

Thankfully Han-Noah Massengo and Alex Scott have been in good form for City in recent weeks, though the pair - just 20 and 18 respectively - may need to be carefully looked after, with three games to be played over eight days, with Veljko Paunovic’s team visiting Ashton Gate next.

Nigel Pearson may decide the time is right for Joe Williams to start against Reading or Swansea City at the weekend instead, with the former Wigan player impressing in several cameos of late.

Williams replaced Callum O’Dowda in the second half at Bloomfield Road on Saturday, and got 26 minutes against Preston the week before, after coming on for the final 14 minutes in the loss to Luton Town.

The 25-year-old £1.2m signing and former Everton youth player has not started since the win against Stoke back in November, when he played an hour, but has caught the eye of City supporters with some tidy play coming off the bench of late, and he should begin a game soon.

With Palmer and King injured for the longer-term, should James not return in the near future, it could see chances appear for fellow midfield schemer Ayman Benarous, or even U23s defensive midfielder Josh Owers, who has travelled with the squad for the last two games as the 19th man.

Owers is the son of former City midfielder Gary Owers, who can often be heard analysing the Robins on BBC Radio Bristol.

The 19-year-old has impressed with Micky Bell’s second string side recently, including an industrious display against Cardiff City in a 3-3 draw last week.

He could supply the ‘destructive’ element needed in the middle of the pitch, which Pearson has previously made reference to his side requiring, and a chance from the bench could arrive later this season. Especially with the current injuries to the engine room of the team.

“When James and King got injured and Tyreeq Bakinson went out on loan to Ipswich, midfield was an area where there was an opportunity,” explained academy director Brian Tinnion to the club’s YouTube channel at the weekend.

“Josh has consistently been one of our best players in the U23s.

“He’s been out to Bath City and got some men’s football, so that was the obvious choice then to go with the first-team and train. He’s getting great exposure and loving every minute,” added Tinnion.