Liam Manning is hopeful that George Tanner will return to Bristol City action before the end of the season, with the Robins head coach confirming the versatile defender’s operation “went well”.
Tanner missed City’s 2-1 win over Norwich City on Friday evening, with the Reds confirming in a social media post ahead of kick-off that the former Manchester United prospect would be unavailable for a “number of weeks” having undergone knee surgery.
The 25-year-old sustained the injury in the first half of City’s 1-1 draw with Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Tuesday evening. Midway through the opening 45 minutes, the ex-Carlisle United defender worked across brilliantly to block Jesurun Rak-Sakyi’s effort and clear to safety, but in the process appears to have picked up the knee issue.
Although Manning insists it is too early to tell exactly how long Tanner will be stuck on the sidelines, he believes the defender has responded well initially. As a result, the head coach is hopeful the Reds will be able to accelerate his recovery so that he can return to the fold before May and the end of the campaign.
“He had surgery yesterday,” Manning told Bristol Live in his post-match press conference on Friday evening. “It was from the block first half [against Sheffield United] an outstanding moment where he’s made a block and yeah, there was a little bit of swelling afterwards.
“It’s one of those injuries where, unfortunately, they happen.
“Hopefully, we’ll see him before the end of the year,” the head coach continued. “I don’t know for definite. You never know in terms of how they respond. The operation went well, he seems to have responded really well so hopefully we can accelerate things. But it all depends on how his body responds.”
In Tanner’s absence, the Reds managed to climb into the top-six with their win over Norwich at Ashton Gate. First-half goals from Mark Sykes and Nahki Wells were enough to ensure that Borja Sainz’s late strike was nothing more than a consolation come the full-time whistle.
Sykes handed Manning’s side the lead after just six minutes with his third of the campaign. The Ireland international picked up the ball on the right flank and cut inside onto his left foot before brilliantly curling a shot into the top left corner.
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Just over 15 minutes later, Wells doubled the Robins’ advantage. Joe Williams picked out the 34-year-old with a smart pass and he quickly turned on the ball, before slotting into the bottom left corner with a smart, low finish.
With three points under their belt, Manning and his squad can enjoy the March international break and therefore their first genuine gap between fixtures since November. After a run of four games in just 10 days, the head coach was keen to laud the effort and work ethic of his stretched group over the last few weeks.
“We got back at three in the morning on Wednesday, so the turnaround and you see some of them, the shift they put in tonight, it says everything for me and that’s probably the most pleasing thing for me in terms of just culturally,” he explained.
“You can see how hard they work, how all in they are, how competitive, their willingness to fight, to run, to scrap, to hold each other accountable I think that’s another big thing. You can see them talking on the pitch, problem-solving and driving things. They’re a fantastic group that deserves all the plaudits.”