Ex-Man United man’s advice to out-of-contract Bristol City stars

Matty James has sent some words of advice to his Bristol City teammates whose contracts are expiring in the summer on how to deal with the uncertainty of their futures.

Tomas Kalas, Jay Dasilva and Andy King are the three City players who could leave the club when their deals end at the end of the season, and the situations are somewhat different for each part of the trio.

Kalas has spent large parts of the season on the sidelines, but when he has been fit he has been impressive, Dasilva has featured 38 times for the club this campaign and has been one of their most consistent performers, but it is his high wages that are likely putting City off potentially offering him a fresh contract.

Meanwhile, King has undertaken a new role as a player-coach this season, and Pearson revealed recently that he hopes the veteran remains at the club next season - whether that might be in a similar role or whether the ex-Leicester City man could make a full transition into coaching remains to be seen.

With just three matches to go, it is likely a strange scenario to deal with mentally for the players that still don't know where they will be next season, and James offered some words of wisdom to them.

“You’ve just got to try and treat it as the next game, don’t think about it too much,” he said. “Just go out there and try and put a performance in.

“Whatever the future may hold, whether it be at the club that you’re at or somewhere else, just try and stay focused on the matter at hand, the 90 minutes that you’ve got to play, the training sessions that you’ve got before you either leave or sign a new contract. I think it’s just about remaining focused on the task at hand which is the next game and two remaining after this one.”

Though the advice from James may be astute, it is likely more difficult to put into practice - especially as the club have little to play for with three matches to go.

Whether the trio remain at the club next season or depart, Nigel Pearson has some big decisions to make in te coming weeks.