Liam Manning has been left frustrated the “horrific” Championship schedule ahead of Bristol City’s clash with Swansea City, with the Robins set to play three matches in the space of just six days.
The Reds welcome Luke Williams’ Swans to Ashton Gate on Sunday lunchtime before Mark Robins and Stoke City visit BS3 on Wednesday evening. Just three days later, City themselves travel to South Wales to face Severnside rivals Cardiff City in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off, meaning Manning’s side will have very limited recovery time between matches.
City’s head coach has been critical of the league’s scheduling already this season, most recently being left frustrated by the fact Blackburn Rovers had an extra day’s preparation than his side in January. Although the Robins went on to win that game 2-1, the 39-year-old felt his players were left “flat on their feet”.
While Manning believes his side is in a good place in the race for the top six after last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Oxford United, he insists that it is “madness” that his players are expected to play so many times in such quick succession at this stage of the campaign.
“We’re in a good spot I think. Naturally, you reflect back on the games we’ve had so far, probably a little bit frustrated and disappointed given how well, at times, the lads have performed but we’re in a good spot,” explained the Robins’ head coach on Wednesday afternoon.
“The weekend was terrific I think, it kind of epitomised everything that you want culturally, the toughness, the resilience, the togetherness, the fight we had to show for 60 minutes with 10 men. It speaks volumes about the group of lads we’ve got. I was really proud of them at the weekend, I thought they were excellent and it’s taking that same level of focus into this week.
“It’s a tough week, the scheduling’s horrific. When you look at it, I think it’s terrible. We talk a lot about the integrity of the competition but when you look at the organisation and the timings to go Sunday, Wednesday night and early on a Saturday, it’s just madness.
“It is what it is, it’s one that we have to deal with and again you need the options, you need the depth and I think we’ve shown before, turning around quickly in games is a strength of ours. We can bounce from Sunday into Wednesday quite well. We’ll need everybody to be fresh to be in a good spot and ready to contribute.”
Although the Reds will be without both Joe Williams and Ross McCrorie, who are set to serve suspensions having been sent off against Oxford last time out, Manning has almost a full squad to pick from. Currently, Cam Pring is the only first-team regular stuck on the treatment table.
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Even with McCrorie, Williams and Pring absent, the 39-year-old feels that his squad has the depth required to navigate the intense upcoming fixture schedule and has challenged those on the fringes of the team to take their chance when it presents itself.
“When you look at, a few, [Harry] Corns, Elijah [Morrison], [Cam] Pringy’s back on the grass and pushing, so we lose the lads this weekend, but I think what we’ve got behind that is options and some quality to step in and take their place,” said the head coach.
“I think that’s the biggest bit now, we’ve had competition, we’ve needed the competition and it’s my job to make sure that we manage it right and when people get the opportunity, they grab it.”