Gerhard Struber and Bristol City may be without Rob Atkinson for the visit of Blackburn Rovers following their defeat to Stoke CityBristol City boss Gerhard Struber during the Robins’ defeat to Stoke City(Image: Photo by Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images)

Bristol City have “no time to moan” about their current injury situation, Gerhard Struber insists, with the Reds boss insistent that he and his players must deal with the potential challenge of being without Rob Atkinson against Blackburn Rovers.

The Robins welcome Valerian Ismael’s side to Ashton Gate on Tuesday evening as they look to bounce back from their heavy defeat to Stoke City last time out. City were thrashed 5-1 at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday afternoon, with Divin Mubama’s hat-trick condemning them to a first defeat in four games.

While the result alone was a source of disappointment for the Reds, the mood in the away end was deflated further when Atkinson was forced off early in the second half. Although Struber was unable to confirm the exact details, the Robins head coach revealed post-match that the defender had suffered a hamstring injury, which looked “not good.”

OPINION

OPINION

With Luke McNally sidelined, George Tanner already substituted, and Zak Vyner’s services required in midfield, City were forced to play the majority of the second half against the Potters with Haydon Roberts and Neto Borges alongside Rob Dickie in defence. While both players have featured in a deeper role previously, they have played very little in such a position under Struber.

When asked by Bristol Live if it was a concern that the Reds had finished with a makeshift backline with two games to come in quick succession, the head coach replied, “I think we have to deal with that.

“The last few weeks, we have to deal with some challenges, and on Tuesday, we have to deal again with the one or other challenge. That’s the Championship, that’s our world, and again, we have no time to moan. We have to do the best, and especially performance-wise, we can do it much better.

“But also, I can feel it in the dressing room; the boys were so critical with themselves. So we make a cut, very quickly, take the important things from this game, learn, and be ready on Tuesday.”

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It isn’t just in defence where City have been impacted by injuries so far this term. The Robins are currently operating with just one fit, senior central midfielder in Adam Randell, as all of Jason Knight, Joe Williams, and Max Bird are out of action, whilst left-back Cam Pring, attacking midfielder Josh Stokes, and forward Harry Cornick are also sidelined.

Ahead of his side’s trip to the Potteries on Saturday afternoon, Struber had been open about his unhappiness with the Reds’ current injury situation. While the result and performance against Mark Robins’ side did very little to change his mood, he was keen not to use City’s current predicament as an excuse for the dip in standard.

“Of course, we are not happy with our situation – that we have not every single player available – but I think overall, many, many teams have to fight with that,” Struber explained. “Also, for us, it’s important that we don’t moan about that.

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“This is something where we’re not happy, we have to do everything [so] that we change that, and we have players who are quickly available and stay available, but this has nothing to do with how we play today or how we find our performance today.

“This has only to do with our sharpness and this was, today, too less.”

The severity of Atkinson’s issue likely won’t become clear until Struber names his team to face Blackburn on Tuesday evening. Should the 27-year-old be unable to feature against Rovers at Ashton Gate, it would come as a surprise if he were to recover in time to face Watford when the Reds travel to Vicarage Road on Friday evening.

After their meeting with the Hornets, Struber’s side have two weeks without domestic football over the November international break, after which, some of their longer-term absentees will hopefully be close to making a return.

READ MORE: Mark Robins shares Bristol City verdict after Stoke show ‘vast improvement’ in Reds thrashingREAD MORE: Gerhard Struber shares Rob Atkinson update as Bristol City boss ‘sad’ for fans after Stoke loss