Such decisions are never absolute but with Ross McCrorie and Haydon Roberts arriving at Bristol City with an element of intrigue as to where they fit into Nigel Pearson’s side and squad in a positional sense, the manager has made it clear he sees them specialising as full-backs.
McCrorie performed a variety of roles for Aberdeen last season - in central midfield, wing-back, as a right-sided centre-back and a more orthodox right-back - and it’s the latter designation in which Pearson believes the Scot will flourish. That also chimes with McCrorie’s recent call-up to the Scotland squad, as a replacement for Celtic right-back Anthony Ralston.
As for Roberts, he hadn’t really considered himself a left-back until his loan move to Derby County last summer having spent much of his youth career as a centre-back. Paul Warne’s lack of options on that flank, however, saw the 21-year-old increasingly shifted out wide and the bulk of his 39 appearances for the Rams were as a wing-back.
