The Championship returns from its four-week break on Saturday and Bristol City will need to hit the ground running when they head to Rotherham for the early kick-off.
The absence came at a good time for Nigel Pearson and his players having won two of their previous 12 matches and the reset will have provided the opportunity to rest up and work on specifics in order to regain the form that was evident towards the beginning of the season.
With the January transfer window looming, it's still uncertain whether City can do any business given the lack of resources but Pearson and technical director Brian Tinnion have made it no secret of the work going on behind the scenes to draw up a shortlist of potential targets.
It will be intriguing to determine what that means for the current crop in regards to letting players leave to raise transfer funds but a number head into the restart with a point to prove to the manager, either because of a lack of form before the break or with a competition for places.
The team selection to take on Rotherham United will provide some evidence about how Pearson sees his squad with the likes of Kal Naismith back in training from a calf injury that has kept him out of action for two months.
Here we detail the players that will need to impress Pearson on the return to league action and over the festive period.
Dan Bentley
With Max O'Leary's impressive form before the World Cup after replacing the Bristol City captain, Bentley faces an uphill task to force his way back into the reckoning between the sticks.
Coming out of the side following the 3-0 defeat at Birmingham, he has occupied the bench for the last nine matches including, and rather surprisingly, the cup defeat to Lincoln. Judging by Pearson's comments following his dropping, Bentley's weakness in coming out for crosses and dominating his area proved the reasoning behind the manager's decision.
Bentley may have felt the decision has been unjust, given he played an important role in City's eight-game unbeaten run earlier in the campaign and kept a clean sheet against Coventry in the penultimate match before being dropped.
The 29-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of the season, is likely to have to remain patient before handing his opportunity to stake his claim. If you remember around 12 months ago, Bentley was dropped for O'Leary only to win his place back following an injury to his team-mate in the away loss at Swansea.
If there's one thing certain about the former Brentford stopper, it's that he will despise playing second fiddle. It's not in his characteristics to watch from the sidelines but whether he gets his chance again, especially with the uncertainty over his contract, remains to be seen.
Jay Dasilva
He has been a part of the furniture in Pearson's plans this season having started in 20 out of City's 21 league games out at left wing-back but Cam Pring's re-emergence into the senior side will give the manager something to think about moving forward.
City's shortage of central defenders before the World Cup break meant Pring was selected on the left of the back three and rightly earned praise for his performances against Swansea, Middlesbrough and Watford. However, Pearson has always eyed Pring as more of a left wing-back given his physicality and pace to get forward.
Dasilva, another player whose deal expires at the end of the season, has only registered one assist in the league. Given the reliance on wing-backs in attack, he will be conscious that it's a stat that needs to be improved despite being relatively consistent from a defensive point of view.
City lacked goals heading into the break with just eight in their last 10 league matches and given the defensive vulnerabilities, Pearson may be thinking about a change in personnel to address the problem. There have also been question marks about City's quality of deliveries from wide positions and Dasilva has frustrated with his final ball.
It would be a surprise to see Pring start ahead of Dasilva against Rotherham at left wing-back on Saturday but the former was certainly playing himself into contention before the World Cup break.
Rob Atkinson
This one may seem slightly controversial given his reliability during the beginning of the season but the World Cup came at a good time for the central defender.
Following the dismal team showing at Reading, illness ruled him out of the following three matches against Swansea, Sheffield United and Middlesbrough in which Pring slotted into his position and made his case for a starting role.
Atkinson then returned as an unused substitute in the 0-0 draw with Watford in which City were by far the better side and Pearson may feel he'll want to stick with that consistency given they've conceded two in their last four league matches.
The manager also bemoaned the lack of reliable central defenders last month and his intentions to sign centre-backs in the January transfer window should they be afforded the opportunity. While the unreliability comments aren't directly aimed at Atkinson, it does question his place in the side should a new defender come into the club.
Whether Pearson trusts Atkinson to play in the centre of a back three is also a debate given Andy King was preferred in that position against Watford. Given Zak Vyner's form this season, if a new central defender comes into the club, Naismith may be favoured out on the left.
Han-Noah Massengo
The French midfielder has found himself out of the side and down the pecking order given his reluctance to sign a new contract. The 3-0 defeat at Birmingham at the beginning of October proved his last appearance in the first-team.
Massengo then featured regularly for the Under-21s but there have been glimpses of evidence that he could come back into the senior side. The first being that he hasn't played for Ali Hines' youngsters over the World Cup break whereas the likes of Dylan Kadji featured on Monday in the 5-2 victory over Crystal Palace.
The second being that he returned to the matchday squad for the first time in seven matches against Watford before the World Cup break. Massengo's quality is unquestionable although consistency in his performances have been his biggest issue.
He was superb in the victories over Luton and Cardiff earlier in the campaign but found himself a victim of the defeat at St Andrew's. There's every opportunity the 21-year-old may not be a City player by the time February rolls around but he'll be hoping to show his capabilities before his inevitable departure.
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