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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
Sport
Richard Forrester

Scott's position and the front three - step into Nigel Pearson's shoes for Bristol City's opener

Nigel Pearson admitted he already knows the bulk of his starting XI to take on Hull in the Championship curtain-raiser on Saturday.

With the way the Robins have set-up in pre-season, it is no secret of the formation in which the manager will deploy with City's new signings aiding the favoured three at the back set-up with wing-backs playing high up the field. Two central midfielders will sit in front of the defence with a No10 playing behind two strikers.

While much of City's team almost picks itself, there remains one or two unanswered questions and decisions Pearson will have to make ahead of kick-off, especially on the back of an impressive undefeated pre-season including Saturday's victory over Premier League Bournemouth.

One of those includes where on the pitch to play Alex Scott, if at all. Speaking to BBC Sport last week he admitted his best role comes as a box-to-box but as we all know, the wonderkid is capable of playing anywhere on the field.

He said: "I think maybe as a box-to-box eight is probably my best position, but for England I was more playing as a sitting midfielder and then in other games I was playing as a 10."

He started as a No10 against Bournemouth and that could be a real possibility once again which means Mark Sykes may have to give way. Although that seems harsh considering the form he has shown during City's warm-up matches and the growing understanding he has playing alongside Andi Weimann and Chris Martin.

To drop Scott further back in midfield will mean breaking up the Joe Williams/Matty James partnership that Pearson remains a big fan of with the duo also impressing during pre-season.

There's also the decision to make in defence. Kane Wilson will be fit after missing Bournemouth and is likely to start at right wing-back with Jay Dasilva on the other flank.

There remains a question mark on whether Pearson opts with Zak Vyner on the right side of defence or sticks with Timm Klose. The former started against the Cherries and was also selected in City's so-called 'stronger' side that took on Forest Green with the Swiss veteran playing against Exeter.

Pearson told BBC Radio Bristol regarding Vyner: "He's one of the players contracted to us, where we can't make any more acquisitions we need to make sure all of our players in our squad get exposure in pre-season to make sure their game ready. Zak to be fair to him has had a good pre-season."

City will be without Tomas Kalas with the defender still struggling with injury. Pearson provided an update on his situation and it appears the centre-back won't return to action anytime soon.

He said: "Tomas has had very slow progress on a grumbly old issue that isn't making progress at the moment. It's an unknown quantity and when there's something more positive on it, I'll tell you but there's no point in trying to put a timescale on it. I don't honestly know."

Using our team selector tool below, City fans can have their say on who they think should start against Hull on Saturday.

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