Nigel Pearson reveals fresh Bristol City injury problem and praises unknown young talent pre-Coventry City

Nigel Pearson says Bristol City midfielder Joe Williams has suffered a calf injury that will see him miss the next two weeks of EFL Championship action.

The midfielder picked up the problem late in training on Friday, as the team prepared for their first game back after the international break against Coventry City.

“Joe picked up a problem yesterday which is unfortunate for him,” Pearson said to BBC Radio Bristol before the Coventry clash.

“Kal hasn’t made it either and with Jason Knight, it’s quite an aggressive illness that he had in a short period of time, but he’s on the bench today.”

The recent plethora of absences meant that the manager has to shift things around. Taylor Gardner-Hickman came into the side in midfield, as did Andy King, while captain Andi Weimann returned on the right wing.

Pearson continued: “It does affect things but we’ll cope with it, it’s fine. We’ve got energy in the team and some new faces in there, it’s an opportunity for them, that’s the way I see it, that’s the way I always see these things.

“Joe will be a couple of weeks I would think, Kal no idea at the moment. Depends on whether he responds to treatment and whether he feels comfortable with it I suppose as much as anything.”

The lack of match fit senior bodies around the camp saw a bulk of young talent named on the substitutes bench against the Sky Blues.

Jamie Knight-Lebel, Ephraim Yeboah, Raekwon Nelson and Duncan Idehen were all in the matchday squad, as was new name Joseph James.

The manager gave a brief summary of James’ traits and insisted that the youngster deserved his place in the squad regardles on injury problems.

“He’s done really well when hes trained with us, he’s got a lot of composure and he’s been as a defender he looks as though he’s got a bright future,” he explained.

“When you can name nine subs, it’s not neceseraliy about their impact on a game, its about the experience, but he certainly deserves to be in and around it and in certain situations he’d be the type of player we might look to. I don’t give away first team shirts very easily and its one of those things where we have to make sure we cover ourselves too.”