Kal Naismith has been ruled out of Bristol City’s game against Norwich City on Sunday due to a hamstring injury which also puts the versatile defender’s availability across December in doubt.
Naismith left the box within a minute of the Robins’ 1-0 loss to Southampton on Wednesday, clutching the back of his leg, and head coach Liam Manning later confirmed the Scot had felt his hamstring.
The extent of the injury and the likely maximum time until he can return are still being assessed by City’s medical team, but a frustrating crusade continues for Naismith, who suffered a muscle problem that sidelined him for most of the pre-season and then suffered. A calf challenge in October.
“He’s going to be a little while,” Manning said of Naismith. “We’re still waiting for results, and a discussion with the specialist so he’s going to be out for a little bit of time, which is disappointing but time-wise I can’t give you anything on that yet.”
Naimith’s absence is slightly mitigated by Cam Pring’s return from a one-match suspension, and the 31-year-old will likely line up at left-back against the Canaries, which still limits Manning’s roles from the bench and in the overall squad – that is, ahead of a full era of month-long meetings.
The City head coach has yet to call up a full bench of substitutes in the 3 games he has presided over, with Naismith joining Nahki Wells, Haydon Roberts (both ankles), Andy King (hamstring), Rob Atkinson (ACL recovery), Ayman. Benarous (hamstring) and Ross McCrorie (bacterial infection) in the treatment room.
Wells is set to return to the first team after beginning a soft education with McCrorie, who is not expected to return until early 2024.
Manning looks confident that Mark Sykes will be able to play against Norwich after fleeing the Republic of Ireland in the second round at St Mary’s due to fatigue. Sykes, Jason Knight and Sam Bell have appeared extensively with club and national team in recent weeks, but will be given the green light to start, if selected, for Sunday’s clash.
Academy midfielder Jed Meerholz has also been training with the first team this week, putting him in line for an imaginable call-up to the Team of the Day at Ashton Gate.
“The rest is ready,” he added Manning. No we have a lot of players to rotate, I’m fully aware of that, so we have to be reasonable, we have to manage it well, but if you look at it, they (the international players) are all physically powerful and what one tends to see is that their effects (the type of players they are) are very different to a centre-back or a central midfielder; More explosive, so those are the elements that we want to be a little more careful with when overloading them.
“But so far, they’ve recovered well. We have amazing facilities here that allow them to concentrate and do a really smart recovery task, but that’s the smart aspect of the league and the English football league, is that rarely the case?It’s Saturday-Wednesday-Sunday and that’s not going to stop the Christmas period.
“It’s about finding the right balance to take care of them, but you have to play until the end because you have to win games. “
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