The majority of Liam Manning’s Bristol City squad are set to enjoy their end-of-season breaks following the Robins’ play-off defeat to Sheffield UnitedJoe Williams, Luke McNally and Mark Sykes missed the second leg of Bristol City’s play-off defeat to Sheffield United(Image: EFL and Getty Images)

Liam Manning has provided a Bristol City injury update after the Robins’ season came to an end at the hands of Sheffield United in the play-offs, confirming that while Mark Sykes is expected to be able to take part in pre-season, Joe Williams will require surgery on the ankle issue he sustained against the Blades.

City’s first Championship play-off campaign in 17 years ended in a disappointing fashion as the Reds were beaten 6-0 on aggregate by Chris Wilder’s side. Having lost 3-0 in the home leg at Ashton Gate last week, goals from Kieffer Moore, Gustavo Hamer and Callum O’Hare at Bramall Lane on Monday evening were enough for the Blades to book their spot in the Wembley final, where they will face Sunderland and Regis Le Bris.

Williams missed the second leg, having been forced off in the first half of the first game with what Manning confirmed to be an ankle ligament injury. McNally and Sykes both missed both play-off games, as well as the majority of the run-in, with their own separate issues. McNally’s season was ended prematurely in February when he sustained a knee injury in the Robins’ defeat to Swansea City, while Sykes hasn’t been able to take part in any of City’s last seven games after pulling his quad ahead of the draw with QPR at Loftus Road.

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All three players’ injuries are completely different, and as a result, so are their recovery times. On a positive note, it appears as though Sykes has a good chance of being involved for the majority of pre-season, but Manning may have to wait a little bit longer before he can call upon either Williams or McNally.

“It’s different with all of them,” the head coach told Bristol Live at the High Performance Centre on Tuesday afternoon. “Joe’s going to have to have surgery. He’s going to be the best part of 12 weeks.

“Luke’s going to November. Luke’s going to be out for a considerable amount of time, and then Syksey hopefully pre-season.”

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In comparison to previous years, the Reds have done well to avoid too many long-term injuries over the course of the campaign. However, the issues picked up in the final weeks of the season, partnered with the already small playing squad, left Manning and his coaching staff slightly short on numbers in some areas of the pitch, particularly the back three.

In the closing exchanges at Bramall Lane on Monday evening, it was evident the Robins were a side at the end of a long season, with more than a couple of players in red and white showing visible signs of fatigue in the second half.

Although Manning felt the loss of a handful of key players played a part his side’s form in the final stages of the campaign, he was quick to credit his squad for the efforts they made to not just come back from injury, but also play through issues at times.

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“It’s definitely not helped,” the head coach replied when asked if the late dip in form was a result of losing the likes of Williams and Sykes. “When you’re running such a tight squad, naturally, you need a little bit of fortune, a little bit of luck, and we probably outstretched it by maybe three or four games when we look at how we finished.

“I think even last night, you look at the game, the last three or four minutes, the lads are completely empty and it’s incredible when you look at what, three players [of the six] in the division to play every minute of every game and then you add another two play-off games into that, there’s a reason probably that most players don’t do every minute of every game. So as much as it’s a really strong point, on the other hand, it means that fatigue, energy, and freshness is a challenge as well.

“Again, it speaks volumes about how quick Pringy gets back, George Tanner after his knee surgery, how quickly he got back, Joe Williams managing an injury, Twiney managing an injury, Ross what he’s been through, it speaks volumes about the importance of playing for the club, the shirt and putting your body on the line. Lads were doing it to get there, as well as when we got there, so the lads deserve a huge amount of credit for that.”

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