Bristol City are anxiously awaiting updates from the Austria camp after Andi Weimann exited their Nations League clash against France on Thursday night with a leg injury.
Weimann pulled up in the 50th minute and immediately left the field at the Stade de France with Austria then conceding twice as Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud scored for the hosts.
Speaking in the immediate aftermath of the defeat, manager Ralf Rangnick didn’t offer any further detail on Weimann’s injury, or those sustained by Marko Arnautovic and David Alaba, but confirmed the trio were doubts for their next game against Croatia.
"David Alaba is injured and also questionable for Sunday,” Rangnick said, as reported by Kronen Zeitung. “He thinks the problems come from the back. So it was the case that he couldn't continue playing and it's not sure if he can play on Sunday. The same goes for Andi Weimann and also for Marko Arnautovic. We now have to wait and see how that develops.”
Austria host Croatia in Vienna on Sunday for their final Nations League fixture. Rangnick’s side are bottom of Group A1 and unable to reach next summer’s finals.
Weimann has been ever present for City this season and is one of Nigel Pearson’s most important players, fundamental to the Robins’ counter-attacking style as he operates in the No10 role behind the two strikers. He leads the Robins for assists so far in 2022/23 with four - joint second-highest in the Championship.
The 31-year-old was City’s Player of the Year last season after scoring 22 goals in 46 games in all competitions, having made a stunning comeback from an ACL injury that caused him to miss most of the 2020/21 campaign.
City’s next Championship fixture is at home to QPR on Saturday, October 1, beginning a run of eight games in 29 days for the Robins, but if Weimann’s injury impacts his availability for any of those matches, Pearson does have options in the position, albeit with the Austrian’s influence hard to replace.
All eight of Mark Sykes’ league appearances this term have been at right wing-back but the 25-year-old is a natural alternative, having spent most of his career as an attacking midfielder and possesses Weimann-like attributes. That could then bring Kane Wilson or George Tanner at right wing-back.
Pearson could also choose to field Alex Scott in a more advanced midfield position or bring one of Nahki Wells, Tommy Conway or Antoine Semenyo into a deeper role, with the other two, or Chris Martin, taking up the two striker’s berths.
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