Nigel Pearson is set to welcome Alex Scott back to his matchday squad for Saturday’s Championship trip to Watford and has revealed that fellow midfielder Joe Williams could still play a part in the final stages of the season.
Scott has missed City’s last three games due to a knee injury sustained while on international duty with England Under-20s but has successfully trained this week and is in contention to feature at Vicarage Road this weekend.
The 19-year-old, who has made 37 league starts this term, second only to Zak Vyner’s 40 across the whole squad, will be under a similar minutes restriction to recent injury returnees Tommy Conway and Kal Naismith, with Pearson anticipating Scott being able to play around 60 minutes, if selected.
Although Williams won’t be part of the matchday squad in Hertfordshire, the 26-year-old is set to return to training next week in what will be a huge boost to him, more than anything, having initially been ruled out for the rest of the campaign after sustaining another hamstring injury at Cardiff City last month.
“We came through Middlesbrough okay and we’ve got players coming back into the squad now, which is good,” Pearson said. “Alex Scott will be back in contention, Kal Naismith came back and he’s training, Joe Williams is back outside with us and he’ll hopefully start training next week, which will be good, for him in particular because we thought it would be for the whole of the season when he did it but he’s made really good progress.
“With soft tissue injuries, if it’s like a hamstring or a calf, there are more factors like the softness of the pitch, the profile of the player - big players, light, fast, explosive players, you have to be careful - but Alex, when he comes back in, we can’t take liberties with him so I think we would be looking at 60 minutes like we would with any players who have been out for a sustained period. But he’s not been out for that long.
“I’m always governed by what the medical department says - I’m certainly no expert. But it does come into the reckoning in terms of how we balance the team.”
Realistically, Williams has two or three opportunities to get back onto the pitch before the end of the season, and while City now have cover in central midfield due to Scott’s anticipated return, the re-availability of Matty James and Naismith, Andy King’s presence plus Omar Taylor-Clarke’s emergence as a first-team prospect, Pearson believes it’s a sign of his developing durability.
The 26-year-old has experienced a number of hamstring issues since signing for City from Wigan Athletic in the summer of 2020 which has impacted his time in the West Country, to the point that even when he was fit there were concerns over whether he could play multiple games inside a week. But this season he’s delivered 30 appearances, 20 as a starter, and 1,873 minutes in the Championship - by far his highest personal tally over his three seasons at Ashton Gate.
“It’ll be important for him but this time, I think he’s got the confidence that the work he’s put in has allowed him to be available for the majority of the season so, in his own mind, he’s in a much better place now than he was 12 months ago and certainly two seasons ago,” Pearson added. “He’s had a pretty difficult time since he’s been here. For him, moving forward, it’s important to know he’s a lot more durable now than he was.”
Williams should be joined in training next week by centre-back Tomas Kalas who is battling to be involved before the end of the season not just to contribute to the squad, but to help earn himself a contract, either at City or somewhere else.
Kalas has played minimal minutes over the last 12 months due to knee and groin issues and Pearson’s stance has always been that the Robins can’t consider extending the Czech Republic international’s time in BS3 until he proves his fitness.
That being said, there is an extra caveat to that given the 29-year-old is the highest-paid player in the squad having joined for a club record fee in 2019, so any negotiations would require him to take a significant pay cut.
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