Timm went off on Saturday, how's he doing?
He's okay, he's fit and able to play.
Everyone else fighting fit for the weekend?
Tomas Kalas is struggling, he's a doubt - so we'll see but everyone else seems ok.
What's the issue with Tomas?
It's a knock to his knee and also a groin issue but we'll see how it is.
Rob Atkinson returned off the bench at the weekend, with 10 games to go is this a good opportunity assuming he can get into the team, to get some game time?
Well done you, Rob's had a bit of a mixed first season at Championship level. I think he's started very well for us and had a bit of illness and struggled to recapture his fitness and form but I think he came back in and performed pretty well I thought so, it's always an opportunity for someone and he seems in good spirits too so hopefully he can finish the season strongly.
There's still 10 games to go, what do you want from Bristol City during those final game of the season?
For the season to finish with some positive outlooks, not just for the remaining games but moving forward as well.
I think for the players that were here last year and experienced how last season felt, it was a very difficult experience and I think what's important is at the moment we address what our immediate problems are and that is being harder to beat, absolutely.
We've conceded far too many goals and the players are aware of that too and there's been some frank words spoken over the last week or so and I think what's really important now is that our actions are certainly a lot more important than any words at this point.
We've got to be as good as our word and we've got to start to get things back into a more positive frame.
Who initiated those frank words, was it you, the players or a bit of both?
Whatever's been said has been said, let's put it like that. There's been an opportunity for people to voice opinions and I think that's all that really matters.
How beneficial would it be to have a settled formation?
We have for a long time. We had a five at the back for a long time but unfortunately, we've had personnel problems which have been, I think that's been the biggest problem, it's not necessarily been the formation.
I think people sometimes want to look at for instance, what the formation is and people struggle to identify what it is. We've not really changed a lot over the last few months honestly where we've had midfield players playing as a part of the back five.
I just think it's been either individually or more importantly collectively as a performance, certainly as the defensive side of our game. Again we've not been what we should be and that's always puts added pressure on how you find results.
More often than not we've had to score two or three goals to get anything out of it which is a big ask which when you consider where we were at the start of the season we are struggling to find goal.
It remains a frustration I'm sure for our fans as much as anybody that our form isn't what we would like it to be but there we are.
Would keeping clean sheets be key to that victory, ironically your last away clean sheet was at Blackburn about 12 months ago?
Yea, I remember that game. I think Max played in that game because Bent's was ill on the day and back then Blackburn were a more possession-based side than they were at the moment.
They're having a great season so it just shows you that things can change but we have to do is... the simple message as far as we are concerned is collectively we have to be more difficult to beat.
And that's the starting point of how we've not just prepared for this game but how we've looked to the remaining 10 games.
Without disregarding those remaining 10 games, how much are you looking forward to the summer?
That's not even a consideration at the moment. Ok, so I think what's very important is- and I don't think about it as the next 10 games, I think about it as though this is our most important game because it's our next one.
We have an opportunity to win an important game against a side that are doing very well. We owe it to ourselves to fight the solutions.
Are you a believer in a bit of momentum to carry on to next season from the final 10 games of the season?
Well yea, in the same way I think we found the start of this season quite difficult based on the end of last year. It can take good or bad momentum forward but I also think at the moment, I prefer people to look at it as an opportunity for, certainly from the player's perspective to really cement a place in the side.
There may be changes this week and if people get an opportunity when they haven't had an opportunity before, then they have an obligation to take it.
You're right, Blackburn are having a great season - they've scored one goal in their last 8 games, what kind of test will Tony Mowbray's side give you on Saturday?
They are a side that have shown good form all season, or consistent form which is something that we've very much struggled to find. So the very fact that they are still fourth and have not scored a lot of goals of late necessarily and the form since the turn of the year has not been as good as Tony would have liked but I've got a lot of respect for Tony.
He's a very good football man and whenever I speak to him he's a realist, he doesn't wax lyrical about how the situation might have been currently, he's a realist about how things can change in football and how fickle football can be sometimes.
What we have to recognise is that they've found a good formula to get consistent results. I cast my mind back to the game at our place and it was a game we could have won but didn't.
The goal that we conceded was a goal out of nothing and a game where we really should have been better in but that's been our reoccurring problem this season. That's something we need to find the solution to.
Where's Joe Williams at in his recovery, are you still having to manage it slightly and be careful?
It's not really to do injuries so much it's more how we manage the load. Three games in a week, Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday that's still going to be - that's something we need to be mindful of over a period of time.
Depending on his figure for his game will determine his availability to a certain or lesser extent. I can't be more specific than that.
It's because he's had two years of not playing consistently and having a number of injury issues - it's common sense that we have a more conservative programme, especially with his style of play - he doesn't hold back when he plays so it's good to have him available and it's good that he's in a position when he can enjoy his football again instead of being frustrated on the sidelines so I hope he's very engaging with you although I have a sneaky suspicion he might be a bit reticent... As long as he does his talking on the pitch.
You've talked about being harder to beat and the reluctance of sacrificing the creativity in the side - how do you go about finding that balance? Is it down to aggression, holding the ball better?
I think you covered the points yourself, it's not straightforward because the strengths of which I prefer to build sides are not strengths that we currently have within our squad.
That means that there has to be some more flexibility and with flexibility comes a big margin of error and that speaks for itself. We've lost too many points this season out of poor decisions, whether that be on the pitch or me making errors of judgement in terms of selection but that's life. I've got no problem with that.
I'd rather try and find solutions than take the safe option all the time. I've got thick enough skin for that type of stuff but it remains a frustration for all of us that we can't find - we can't find different ways of winning games.
We've become a side that if we are in good form as an attacking force we can create chances and score goals - we wouldn't be talking like that at the start of the season but what we've lost somewhat with that as a trade-off is that we've conceded far too many soft goals, we don't stop enough crosses - whether it's the full-backs or wide players, we just do not stop enough crosses and that's been throughout the season.
We've conceded too many goals that have been scored from within the penalty box within 12 yards so those facts and figures are not necessarily pretty reading and when you look at where we've scored goals and how we've scored goals - our conversion rate is pretty frightening really because our forwards probably don't get the number of chances we get against us so we have to be pretty ruthless.
So those things together, I'm not somebody who would talk stats all the time and bore me to death but you can't hide from it at times. There are times when facts, stats add up and you can't turn your back on them but what really costs us from time to time is more to do with a collective resilience and an ability to manage game situations as they occur on the pitch.
Whether that's to do with - sometimes an experience is one thing but some of our young players are some of the best in managing situations so it's not necessarily that.
It's a collective responsibility which the players have talked about this week so we'll see because now it's time to judge them on the pitch - I can talk all I want, you can either listen or not listen, agree or disagree but the bottom line is when we're on the pitch - what we do then.
It's another week closer to George Tanner's return...
Good old George, hey? The Messiah is here.
I have to stop you because whether you week in or week out - it's right that you ask questions about his availability but let's remember that it's his first year at Championship level and he's done OK, at times he's found it difficult - let's not pile pressure around him.
Actually, he's doing very well for his first season in the Championship. He'll need time to readjust again when he's available so I'd be very mindful of exposing him at the right time and if he was available this week, then I wouldn't pick him.
It's as simple as that. So ask the question but I have to remind you as I have many times before I think it's important to manage expectations on the youngster who has done very well to make the step up.
He's looking fitter and leaner than he was and he undoubtedly has a bright future but let's not build the lad up to much.
Well, I was going to ask about managing the expectations on him because it's easier to say it has been a problem position - it's easy to say it's fine because Tanner will be in action soon...
It's been impossible with us to play with a back four because we don't have... we're lucky that Jay Dasilva has come into some real form and I have to pay some tribute to him and his ability to deal with a difficult situation this year of being out of favour, coming back in and doing a really good job in the team. So fair play to him.
But we don't have enough options in those areas but that's life so that may be an area that we look to, we'll see how George develops over the remainder of the season and over the close season period and again these are... I can't give you definitive answers of these.
When we brought George in, let's just remind ourselves of why he was brought in at a time where it was a deal that was doable - it wasn't necessarily in our plans to do that but he's available and he's developed really well this season and unfortunately for him, he's picked up a couple of injuries and those are injuries born out of players at full tilt - you can't underestimate the added demands of them physically even from the added mental challenges of playing at a higher level.
It's a big step up to deal with the expectations of playing at a higher level consistently and that's something that I'm always very mindful of so I cast myself back to last week on the disappointments was that we didn't... our experienced players did not take on the added responsibility of protecting the younger players and that's something that remains a challenge for us.
You mentioned the lack of options at wing-back, would you consider Tomas Kalas there because he has played a bit at right-back before?
He's a doubt for this weekend so Tomas is like a lot of players in our squad. He's not at the top end of his game. Again, would I play him as a wing-back? Who knows? You'll have to wait and see.
Whether away from home we set up differently and play five centre-backs and three defensive midfielders - that we don't have to be given roles defensively but as I've said to you before, I don't think that's going to be a way of us making progressions apart from yea we might scrap out a couple of ugly results and I'd take those now if they were positive ones but I think that would also limit the possibilities of continuing to develop in areas where we have made huge strides this season.
What we have to be is more efficient as a team, I keep saying it but that is one of the main aims.
When it comes to signing a full-back, historically has it been difficult to find good quality full-backs at decent value?
Our main objective still is to have dominant centre-backs that can deal with the demands of the game. That's the first thing. Timm's in on a short-term deal and hopefully, he does enough to stay and then we've got other players who are vying for those positions and first and foremost, they are the priorities.
Full-backs are nice on a wishlist but I think everyone said they centre-back building through the middle and that will also remain the priority so at the moment, we thought we were relatively strong, we've underachieved this year. So that remains the priority.
Did he pick up the injury last weekend or during the week?
Last weekend, you have to remember he's an international as well, he's had no break last summer. He played most the games last year, he's played a full international programme - the same the year before so he's had three years of continual football of matches and training.
He has been more or less a regular for the international side or not necessarily recent get-togethers so his mind and body probably needs a breather as well so if he misses out this week, he misses out and it's an opportunity for him to recover somewhat.
You know what you're going to get with him in terms of commitment but everyone has a threshold in their ability to stay at high standards and I think that's something that I as a manager, I'm very mindful of.
The Danny Simpson scenario - how did that pan out in the week?
It's not important we've decided as a club. We've decided to terminate and we agreed so it's as simple as that.
It seems that Antoine might be involved for Ghana squad, what would it mean for him playing on the international stage and how would you deal with the international players going away in the week?
Firstly I would congratulate any player on being selected for their national side and the very fact that Antoine has a very strong connection with his parents homeland is a wonderful thing so whether people want to take about Ghana or England, that's irrelevant, that's Antoine's decision and I would firstly just congratulate him on making such a huge progression himself.
He's a great individual, he's a very, very grounded player with humility, he's got a strong family background. I just think it's a great story for him and as a club. On a personal level for him, I'm sure it's very proud moment for him and I wish him all the success.
As a club manager, I've worked as a national coach for England in my time as well. You know that you are a custodian of players from different clubs so there's always the recognition of that. As a club manager myself when players get called up, I hope they do well for their countries but more than anything I hope they come back fit and healthy.
I never at any point, having worked for the national, I would never step in the way of individuals representing their country - that's their wishes.
It's a testament to him coming back from injuries to show that form and be recognised on the international stage...
Of course it is, but he's shown he's playing exceptionally well for us so good for him. I'm glad he's our player.
The U23s are a good run of form, is it important to keep those players settled in their enviroment at the moment instead of bring them into the first team before the end of the season?
These types of decisions are not done on a whim. Compared to where we are now than last year, we've had some injuries this year but we had 12/13/14 players out now we have 5/6 some of which are key first-team members...
Look, working with a much smaller squad this year we don't have the problems that we had last year where we were in a position to maybe give debuts to players or even ask them to do jobs that they are probably not really suited to and there is an element of whether that does damage to players or not.
I don't like being in that sort of situation so obviously last week with Bell where he had a bit of a tough time but he's actually such a... his dad is a big influence on him, his ability to deal with situations like that is actually very good so I don't have a worry where a situation last week could have an impact on Sam Bell because I think he will process it pretty well.
In terms of players that are currently in the U23s that have not been in our first-team squad, is there a possibility of them being used this year?
I think it's good for those players and throughout the whole academy to see a pathway for themselves, a realistic one based on opportunity.
Opportunity comes in they're good enough, it has to be the key thing I don't really see the thing in just converting U23 players and experimenting with them because it can be a dangerous thing to do for them and their own development.
But I'm also very open-minded to help player's development so I'm not ruling it out because if I rule it out now, what I don't want to do is kill their aspirations of making late development in a season and maybe pushing through to getting them a place on the bench so it would be very easy for me to say yes or no and it's a long answer but I'd rather give you the answer that actually speaks about the reality of the situation.
It's really interesting during a season that players can make big shifts in small periods of time and sometimes players are really good at taking opportunities out of nothing because I really like that and that is a strength in itself.
About the process, is it you asking for them or them coming to you...
We work in the same building we see each other every day, we talk about the players. I like to see them train and their staff like to come and watch us train, there's daily dialogue, there's weekly dialogue... sometimes things happen by chance but we have a pretty good handle on where people are so it's a mixture of it and it should be a mixture of it. Things should happen in a natural way and not be forced.
You've been a big advocate of women in football, what have you made of Bristol City's women team this season and have you shared many discussions with Lauren Smith? (the manager).
They've been brilliant, I watch them work as well. I watch them around the building and the way they operate as their own operation around the club. They're very, very slick. Lauren does a great job and Grace Williams and they do a fantastic job and the girls are a credit to the football club.
I'm very pleased for them that they're doing so well because based on what their starting point was, based on relegation last year, the change of management. I know Lauren worked in the academy before for a long period of time and in a way Grace was in the Welsh FA, we've really good know-how within the setup and on top of that, what's really key to this is the club have made a conscious decision to give the women's team the support that they should get.
And that is they are the senior team of Bristol City and quite rightly they are getting the level of respect they should do. It's good for them. I think they're doing great.
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