Liam Manning has confirmed that Bristol City will allow Harry Cornick to explore his options during the January transfer window after the forward was missing from the Robins’ squad to face West Brom.
The Reds extended their winless run in the Championship to four matches as they were beaten 2-0 by Carlos Corberan’s Baggies on Sunday afternoon, with Mikey Johnston’s brace proving to be the difference between the two sides.
City were boosted by the return of George Tanner to the matchday squad at The Hawthorns, but with both Nahki Wells and Sinclair Armstrong missing through injury, Sam Bell and Yu Hirakawa were the only recognised forwards named on the bench with Cornick not included in the Robins’ ranks.
The 29-year-old is yet to play a minute of Championship football this term and Manning confirmed on Monday afternoon that the decision to leave him out of the side this weekend was not a result of injury, but merely a selection call. Though Manning was keen to laud the attacker for his attitude this term, he did admit that he expects him to consider his options when the transfer window opens again next month.
“I’ve had a chat with Corns and it’s tough because he’s one a top person and two a top professional,” explained the Robins boss on Monday. “I know he would have been frustrated at not getting minutes but we had that chat in the summer that, that might be the case. I can’t commend him enough for how he’s conducted himself.
“With January coming up, I’m sure he’ll want to explore options as we’ll allow him to. We’ve had those chats with Corns but as I said, it’s always harder when you’ve got someone that’s such a good person and a pro. We’ll have to see how that turns out.”
Given Bristol City’s struggles in front of goal so far this season, some fans have been keen to see the Reds return to the transfer market in the new year in search of a more established forward to lead the line at Ashton Gate.
While Manning didn’t shut the door on any potential incoming business at the start of 2025, the City head coach did admit that he expects it to be a quiet window in the West Country after a busy summer which saw several additions to the playing squad.
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“I don’t think there will be a huge amount to be fair,” admitted the 39-year-old. “There might be the odd one or two who go out, but I don’t think there will be a huge amount coming in, to be honest.
“We obviously did a lot in the summer and again, these things take time, when people come in it takes a little bit of time to settle. I’m really pleased with the group we’ve got now. We’ve got depth, we’ve got options, and we’ve got people who over the course of the season will get better.
“We spoke this morning about it actually, the tough period last season where we had four out of five losses. The doom and gloom was there, me included, but we trusted in the work we did and we obviously finished as strongly as we did. That’s the bit for me when we look at it, after Boxing Day we’re halfway through the season and we’ve still got to play everyone above us again.
“We’ve shown that we can compete, it’s now about how do we win those games? How do we become a bit more streetwise, a bit more mature in how we manage games to make sure we turn some good performances into wins?”