There's a hint of irony in the fact that Bristol City now have stiff competition for options at right wing-back when the Robins' squad remains on the thin side.
Throughout last season, manager Nigel Pearson was scraping the barrel for names who could fill the void with Alex Scott eventually becoming the most trustworthy name to take responsibility.
Sam Bell was given a handful of minutes on that side, Andi Weimann performed admirably but that limited his threat up the other end of the pitch, George Tanner struggled with injury and Zak Vyner couldn't make the position his own.
Fast forward three months and there's a new complexion to the way City play with that extra focus on the wing-backs pushing higher up the field to help contribute in attacking positions.
The arrival of Kane Wilson has undoubtedly helped transform that style of play having arrived in BS3 with a reputation built from his terrific season in Forest Green Rovers' League Two promotion campaign with three goals and 13 assists. Then there's Tanner who returned from injury looking sharp in pre-season.
While there's great anticipation and a weight of expectation to see how he makes the transition to the Championship, his route into the first-team may have hit a hurdle in the form of Mark Sykes.
Manager Pearson started Wilson on the bench against Bournemouth having missed a chunk of training in the build-up to the game with a knock to the ankle and therefore wasn't prepared to take the risk with the 22-year-old. It left him with a decision whether to go with Sykes, Scott or Tanner.
Sykes got the nod for his full debut and while not his natural position, there were no signs that the former Oxford man is going to be a fish out of water in this league. As detailed in the post-match verdict, he was one of the brightest players on the field with his tireless runs up and down the touchline, quality of his crosses and timing in the tackles.
His game lasted 60 minutes before the manager decided he had taken one too many kicks for his liking as he hobbled towards the touchline with Wilson coming on to replace him for his first competitive taste of action in a Robins jersey.
It's only the first game of the season but already for Sykes, it feels as though he has been on his own journey of self-improvement since becoming the club's first signing of the summer on May 16.
Having arrived as a right winger, a position that Pearson rarely uses in his favoured system, there was the underlying debate as to where he would fit into the system. His opening pre-season game against Cheltenham saw him play in the No10 role and while there were glimpses of his ability, Sykes openly admitted himself he needed to work on his positioning to try and influence the game more after drifting in and out of the contest.
Against Plymouth he was deployed as a wing-back, then he was back in the No10 role at Forest Green in which he was really impressive, before being back out on the flank against Bournemouth in the final pre-season match.
What has been a notable sign of encouragement about Sykes, is he seems to be improving game on game. After the Hull defeat on Saturday, Pearson was quick to praise his new signing on a productive debut.
More interestingly, the manager picked out two moments in pre-season that could have cost City goals through Sykes being found wanting in a positional sense - understandable given the player is learning to adapt to not one, but two new positions. Pearson then went on to highlight how quickly Sykes is continuing to study his errors and become a better player because of them.
He said "He’s a quick learner. The last touch of the game at Plymouth he was playing at wing-back and they played a diagonal and the runner got inside of him. The same happened at Bournemouth last week and he learnt, and the player didn’t get there. So, he’s a quick learner, he’s a good footballer and I think he’s made a very good debut today.”
The game on Saturday against Sunderland will be an intriguing one in regards to how the team will set up, particularly with Wilson getting a full week of training under his belt. Does Pearson give the natural wing-back his full debut and then do Scott and Sykes battle it out for that No10 role?
Perhaps with Coventry in the EFL Cup on the following Tuesday, it would make sense to hold fire on starting Wilson to ease him into facing Championship opposition but Sykes' form both in pre-season and his performance against Hull suggests that he can't be overlooked and it's a welcome conundrum for Pearson going forward.
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