Liam Manning reveals Bristol City star 'knocked his door' after lack of opportunities

Liam Manning has revealed that he has held conversations with Ephraim Yeboah over his lack of playing time at Bristol City. The 17-year-old is yet to make an appearance under Manning, who has been in charge for almost a month, and conversations have been held about how he could get himself on the pitch.

He played 11 games this season, all of which have come off the substitutes bench. In total, he's played 224 minutes, however his last game was against Cardiff City which was Pearson's last game. Yeboah has remained in the first-team picture, however he's been an unused substitute in the four games that Manning has overseen so far.

"He's a different character," admitted Manning about Yeboah.

"He came and knocked on the door, we had a chat about what he has got to do. I think sometimes you're a I wouldn't say a victim but of change to a certain extent. I had a chat with him and he's fresh, young and sometimes coming in knowing what you're going to get is a bit important when you're trying to hit the ground running.

"He's really progressed in training and I've been pleased with the steps that he has made. He's someone that is really willing to work and he's really honest. He's got some real attributes to be fair to him which needs polishing up in certain areas but that is his job and our job to ake happen. Like I said to him, he's got to keep his head down, keep working and the opportunity will come.

The level of the opposition has been sighted as a factor as to why Yeboah may not have played recently. Manning's first game came against QPR who had hoped for a new manager bounce, whilst there have also been tough tests against Middlesbrough and Southampton in recent weeks. City's last match was a frustrating 2-1 defeat to Norwich City in which they took the lead, and the Robins would have opted to go defensive rather than make an attack-minded substitution.

"An element of understanding of positional play which is completely different for him," responded Manning when asked about the areas of his game that Yeboah could improve.

"I think understanding how to do that because the alignment in that is quite important out of pospossessionession role. It becomes equally as important when you look at the level of opposition that we've played recently. The tactical side of it has been extremely detailed. There are bits that he is learning."