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Bristol Post

Sport

Richard Forrester

How Bristol City's average playing age compares to Sunderland, Middlesbrough and other rivals

Bristol City Sunderland Middlesbrough Nigel Pearson Alex Scott George Tanner Kal Naismith Reading Robins Tommy Conway

Bristol City's financial difficulties in recent years have been well documented and the impact it has had on player recruitment in the transfer market.

The Robins were one of six clubs that didn't fork out a fee this summer as manager Nigel Pearson made it abundantly clear that money would have to be raised in order to bring in new players.

Despite that, it hasn't had an adverse impact on the club's progression on the pitch with plenty of reasons to remain optimistic after the opening 10 games of the season. The Robins sit ninth, just one point adrift of the playoffs, but they could arguably be among the top six if it wasn't for dodgy referee decisions and individual mistakes.

Now more than ever, that pathway from City's academy to the senior squad remains vitally important. Nine players were handed first-team debuts last season and Pearson has continued the trend this time around by integrating youngsters into the first-team.

Tommy Conway is the obvious name who has hugely benefitted this season with five goals in his eight Championship starts this season. Dylan Kadji made his debut and scored in the Carabao Cup victory over Wycombe to join the long list of players such as Alex Scott, Ayman Benarous, Antoine Semenyo, George Tanner and Sam Bell who have made the step up.

Young defenders Raph Araoye, Duncan Idehen and Ryley Towler have all had a previous taste of action while new 20-year-old keeper Stefan Bajic could be knocking on the door in the near future.

The progression of City Under-21s is something to sit back and admire as they continue their fine form this season with six wins and a draw in their opening seven matches and that potential will only continue to benefit Pearson down the line.

While the manager has worked hard on changing the culture around the club to deliver success on the pitch, it appears Pearson has found the right blend between youth and experience. Kal Naismith's arrival this summer in central defence provides further leadership qualities in the squad alongside captain Dan Bentley.

The CIES Football Observatory has worked out the average ages of each Championship side this season and it places Bristol City 13th in the table with an average age of 26.54. Calculations are worked out with minutes played by players since the start of the new season.

Blackpool have the youngest squad in the league this season with an average age of 24.37 ahead of Blackburn Rovers (24.91) and Swansea (25.21). The eldest is Wigan with 29.19 ahead of Reading (27.88) and West Brom (27.47).

Breaking those numbers up, 17 per cent of those minutes are made by players aged 21 or below and that would therefore include Scott (19), Conway (20) and Han-Noah Massengo (21). Only five other sides in the Championship have a higher number with Sunderland topping the charts (34.3 per cent).

The majority of minutes are made up by players aged between 22-25 (40.4 per cent), including the likes of Zak Vyner, Rob Atkinson, Joe Williams and Jay Dasilva while just 9.1 per cent of minutes are players between 26-29 - the third fewest in the Championship.

Interestingly, City have the fourth highest average of over 30 players featuring this season and that makes up 33.5 per cent of minutes played. Only Birmingham, Reading and Wigan have more this season. Those players include Naismith, Matty James, Andi Weimann, Nahki Wells, Andy King and Chris Martin.