Liam Manning has confirmed that Cam Pring suffered a hamstring injury during Bristol City’s draw with Plymouth Argyle ahead of the Robins’ clash with Derby County this weekend.
The left-back started the Reds 2-2 draw with the managerless Pilgrims on New Year’s Day, but his afternoon was brought to a premature end when he was forced off after just 42 minutes having stretched in front of the travelling supporters.
With only two days to recover before Paul Warne’s Derby side make the trip to Ashton Gate on Saturday, it seems unlikely that Pring will be fit to feature, with Manning admitting that he was “pretty sure” Haydon Roberts would get a chance to impress.
“It looks like a hamstring, but I’ve got no idea how serious it is or what it looks like,” the Robins head coach told Bristol Live after the full-time whistle at Home Park. “It’s obviously frustrating, but it’s such a full-on period that you run that risk when you put someone in for a third game in six days or whatever it is. You always run that risk so we’ll have to see.
“He [Roberts] did some good things, he’s had to be patient. I’m pretty sure now that he’ll get the opportunity he’s been craving so it’s now about grabbing it. You can be frustrated, you can want it but ultimately what it comes down to is delivering when you get that opportunity.”
Pring isn’t the only City star out of action currently, with Mark Sykes, Kal Naismith and Sinclair Armstrong all also making their way back from injury. Sykes and Naismith haven’t featured for the Reds since their defeat to Sheffield United in November while Arsmtrong’s last outing came in the Robins’ 1-1 draw with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
Ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Home Park, Manning confirmed that all three players were closing in on a return to first-team action, with Sykes understood to be further ahead in his recovery than his two teammates.
Although the Reds head coach insists the trio are still getting closer, Saturday afternoon’s clash will come too soon for them to return to the matchday squad, with the lack of training time between games posing a problem.
“About a day ago you asked me that,” Manning joked when asked if anyone was likely to return to the fold against Derby County. “It’s the same answer as a day ago.
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“They’re on the grass but the problem we’ve got at the minute is that there’s no training time. You’re getting lads that are getting close, they’re doing the work every day but you have to put them in a training session with the stimulus of loads of bodies running around them. Derby’s probably too tight for the ones coming back.”
The Championship schedule returns to some semblance of normality after Saturday’s meeting with Derby County so there should be plenty more opportunities for Armstrong, Sykes and Naimsith to fully return to the fold ahead of next weekend’s clash with Wolves in the FA Cup.
However, Manning is willing to utilise the under-21s to help his returning players get some match minutes in their legs if he feels it is what they need to get back up to speed in the coming weeks.
“We’ve done it previously,” said the 39-year-old. “We work really closely with the academy lads and if it fits around the schedule and it works, we’ve done it previously and it’s something that we’d definitely do in the future.”