Matty James and Nigel Pearson wade in what positions are best for Ayman Benarous and Alex Scott

Bristol City coach Nigel Pearson and Matty James believe youngsters Alex Scott and Ayman Benarous should have no qualms on what position they play.

Benarous and Scott have graduated into the first-team setup this season and are the highlight of what has been a fairly average campaign so far.

Both, predominantly midfielders by trade however have been played in unusual positions to the ones they started out with.

Pearson has instead deployed Scott as a wing-back through most of the campaign whilst Benarous has slotted there in recent weeks in the absence of Callum O’Dowda.

When asked on how they feel being deployed there, the head coach said: “The manager picks them in the position that they want. They aren’t bothered where they play, either of them.

“If players just say they play in one position then they aren’t going to get very far. They need to play wherever they’re put basically.

“The very fact that I’m confident they can play in those positions tells you that they’re pretty football intelligent as well.

Given O’Dowda is set to return to the fold after injury, Benarous could either find himself on the bench or in midfield at Kenilworth Road.

“You don’t know where we’re gonna play them at Luton so you might see them in a different position, who knows,” he finished off with on the matter.

For a player meanwhile whilst a manager may be inclined to play you in one position, you may feel best suited in another but ultimately it is coach who has the final say.

For midfielder Matty James, he began his career as a centre-back and later made his way into the midfield.

His experience in a deeper position helped him understand the game more and now he is a well-rounded enforcer in the heart of Robins midfield.

James, who has played under Pearson at both Leicester and now at City, backs his coach’s decision to deploy the young players as wing-backs.

He said: “I think you have to be ready for whatever the manager throws at you.

“For young lads to be playing in a position that is different to them, they’ve taken it in their stride fantastically. They don’t look out of place when they are playing there.

“I think Alex Scott has been magnificent in that position. He’s been a talisman in moving us forward. He gets us higher up the pitch because of the pressure he’s done from a wing-back position.

“It’s suited Scotty being there in the way that he plays, he’s on the front foot,” James added.

I don’t think we want him to be in a flat five-position because then he becomes a right-back as opposed to a right wing-back. We want him to be higher up the pitch but as a young lad you get on with it and you learn.

“You are happy that you are playing a game of football. Maybe when he’s 30 and he’s playing right wing-back he might say something certainly at the minute for him he’s doing the team a job and that’s the most important thing.

“Ayman had to slot in there the other day and that was like his fifth start. These boys are getting experiences like no other young lad will be getting. It will help them in the long-run 100%.”

Another young player who has benefited from a positional change is Ryley Towler, who this week returned to the club following the end of his loan spell at Grimsby Town

Towler was there on a six-month loan and the Mariners were keen to keep him but now the 19-year-old is back in contention for the first team.

On the decision to recall him, Pearson said: “He’s going to be needed over the rest of the season. He’s done well. I think the loan move was good for all parties, really.

“I think Ryley has had the opportunity to play quite a few games and to get that first-team exposure is beneficial. He seems in really good spirits, actually.”

A head injury that will keep Nathan Baker out for an indefinite period, as well as the uncertainty of the Omicron variant, means more personnel will be needed for the second part of the season.

The 19-year-old, born in Bristol, made 13 appearances in the Conference, playing as a centre-back after initially starting as a midfielder in his handful of appearances for City last season.

“I think getting experience in first-team football is very important, and for Ryley last year, yeah he made four or five appearances in a side that was struggling, which is not always easy.

What I’ve noticed already is he is certainly a bit more vocal than before he went. He’s a really good lad as well.

“He’s got a lot of humility about him and considering two years ago he was a midfield player, for him to make the adaptation into a centre-back has been pretty good for him really, so I like him.”