Cole Skuse could start for Bristol City
City launch their campaign against Blackpool at Bloomfield Road on Saturday and the Bristolian will almost certainly play if fellow midfielder Marvin Elliott fails to recover from injury.
Last season's young player of the year, Elliott is struggling to overcome a recurring knee problem and has not trained with the senior squad since the end of last week.
The 23-year-old Londoner was today having a precautionary scan and manager Gary Johnson described his chances of facing Blackpool as “less than 50 per cent.”
Elliott missed the start of City's pre-season programme while recovering from a fractured ankle sustained at the end of last season.
He played 45 minutes at Bournemouth last week and for an hour at Cheltenham, but was forced to sit out Friday's 4-0 friendly win over Royal Antwerp.
He is clearly short of match practice and Johnson is not prepared to takes risks with the midfield powerhouse, who played an integral part in City's march to the play-offs last term.
If, as appears increasingly likely, Elliott is ruled out of Saturday's curtain-raiser in Lancashire, Johnson is expected to turn instead to Skuse.
The 22-year-old academy product deputised for Elliott against Antwerp and capped a fine all-round display by setting-up Nicky Maynard for City's second goal. Having played second fiddle to Lee Johnson, Nick Carle and Elliott for much of last season, Skuse now has an opportunity to nail down a regular place in the starting line-up
Johnson said: “Skuse came in against Antwerp, did very well and probably deserves his chance.
“This is the season where he needs to break through and he might get his opportunity nice and early.
“I have to be careful with the balance of the team and he can play that holding role in the centre of midfield and has the same legs as Marvin. You can't go with an entire midfield of people who run with the ball, you need different types. Skuse didn't start many games last season and this is his chance to get in and establish himself.”
Of Elliott, he said: “Marvin's just having one or two little problems and niggles that we're having to manage at the moment.
“He may or may not be missing, we'll just have to wait and see how his week develops. He's been doing a bit of training apart from the other lads to keep him ticking over and he'll have a scan to make sure there's nothing in there that we don't know about.
“Then we'll know if we can really push him or not. But, at this moment in time, his chances are less than 50 per cent.”
Winger Scott Murray will definitely miss Saturday's opening game with a fractured wrist, while academy product Jordan Walker is ruled out with a knee injury. Otherwise, Johnson is expected to be able to select from a full-strength squad.
He revealed: “Players are coming back to full fitness and there is real competition for places. Judging by our training this week, they all want to play on Saturday.
“We've had some really lively sessions, which is what you want in the final week before the season starts.
“There are still five days to go and I pretty much know my team. There are just one or two places up for grabs.”
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