Alex Scott made his Bristol City return as the Robins felt the heat by coming from behind to salvage a 2-2 draw with Exeter City.
The wonderkid – a star of England's triumphant under-19 Euros campaign this summer – was introduced in the 45th minute of the contest, replacing James Taylor who was handed a difficult afternoon playing out of position at left wing-back.
The Robins were in desperate need of Scott's quality in that second half as the hosts struggled in the opening 45 minutes, Josh Coley deservedly firing Exeter ahead early on.
Wing-back Jack Caprice was superb and he exploited space behind Kane Wilson who had ventured up the field. He lifted his head and played a brilliant pass with the outside of his boot into the striker who burst through the defence to finish past Max O'Leary.
City's lack of fluidity wasn't helped with defender Duncan Idehen coming off injured after 20 minutes with illness before Han-Noah Massengo was also replaced after picking up a dead leg. The midfielder hobbled back to the stands with an ice pack on his thigh as he took his seat.
In comparison to the opening game of the day, a 3-1 victory over Forest Green Rovers, City were disappointing and disjointed. They struggled to deal with the directness and physicality of Exeter who were getting plenty of joy down the flanks.
City were also losing the midfield battle, Andy King struggling to get his foot on the ball while Massengo's replacement Omar Taylor-Clarke doing his best to get to grips with the contest. Wilson in particular had his quietest game yet, struggling to make an impact in an advanced role while Caprice was enjoying that space behind.
The half-time whistle provided the coaches with the chance to get back to the drawing board and bring Scott into the frame. Timm Klose, who struggled to cover the space left in behind from Wilson's foray forward, was moved into the middle of the back three with Ryley Towler moving over.
It didn't spark City into life and they fell two behind when a cross from the right met the head of Alex Hartridge to head past O'Leary. Moments before City saw the ball crash off their own crossbar through Tim Dieng's header following a delivery from the same side.
Scott, who was initially deployed as a wing-back, showed his class and should have scored when his nimble footwork saw him dance his way into the area before dragging his shot wide of the target as he booted the gate behind the goal in frustration.
City soon got themselves back into the game, Nahki Wells superbly breaking down the right before cutting the ball into the path of Tommy Conway who was never going to miss from close range.
A formation tweak that saw Scott move into the middle with a four at the back provided City with more attacking impetus and a defensive error saw Wells pick up the ball in a dangerous position, rolling the ball to Conway to score the equaliser.
At the full-time whistle goalkeeping coach Pat Mountain said it was always the plan to give Scott 45 minutes and picked out the positives with the Robins fielding a young side that included the likes of Taylor-Clarke and Raphael Araoye.
He said: "It was certainly tougher (than the Forest Green game) because we had a significantly younger element to our team. They were a good physical, strong, hard-working team.
"To be down twice and come back and our Tommy Conway to get those goals and for the strikers to help him get those goals is a good sign. The key for organising two games was to get 90 minutes under the belt for the players.
"It looks like you're a bit short of numbers but it was key to get that time in for the players because ultimately that's what you're aiming for."
In regards to Scott, Mountain added: "He's only been back in training this week, he's done his own personal training and of course, he hasn't stopped playing because of the Euros tournament and as he was successful it went on for longer. It was fantastic for him.
"That was always the plan to play him for the 45 minutes and again he showed what he's about in that 45 minutes - like he's never been away. When he buys those fouls he gets three or four of them in the game."
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