Josh Stokes hasn’t featured in each of Bristol City’s last two friendly fixturesBristol City midfielder Josh Stokes at Ashton Gate(Image: Rogan Thomas/Bristol City)

Gerhard Struber has provided an update on the fitness of Josh Stokes following Bristol City’s draw with Cheltenham Town, confirming that he is hopeful he will return to first-team training early next week.

Stokes was left out of the Robins’ squad to take on Newport County at the High Performance Centre on Tuesday, alongside Marcus McGuane, who has since joined Huddersfield Town, and was similarly absent from Friday night’s draw against Michael Flynn’s side.

Supporters have been quick to question just why the 21-year-old is yet to feature under Struber this summer, especially after he put pen to paper on a new three-year deal a little over a month ago following a successful loan spell with Cambridge United. Some had floated the idea of another loan switch, while others have mooted a potential injury.

READ MORE: Gerhard Struber sheds light on Bristol City’s transfer stance after Robins draw with CheltenhamREAD MORE: Report: Bristol City held by Cheltenham Town in first pre-season clash of double-header weekend

Although the latter has proven to be correct, Struber is adamant that the attacking midfielder’s issue is nothing major and is expecting to have him involved in training in the lead-up to next weekend’s friendly against Real Valladolid at Ashton Gate.

“It is not a big thing with Josh,” the head coach told Bristol Live following Friday night’s draw at The EV Charging Points Stadium. “He will be back next week.

“We’ll try to bring him back next week, and I hope on Tuesday he can train with the team and with the football. Everything is, right now, good with him.”

With another game to come this weekend against Plymouth Argyle at Home Park, Struber has split his squad into two groups for the two matches. Barring a handful of senior players, namely Mark Sykes, Rob Dickie, Sam Bell, Joe Lumley, Haydon Roberts, and Fally Mayulu, the majority of the squad that took to the field against Cheltenham was made up of young players and academy prospects.

Neither Jason Knight nor Adam Randell, who started Tuesday’s win over Newport County, made the trip up the M5 to Gloucestershire. The pair’s absence, partnered with the fact both Joe Williams and Max Bird are continuining their recovery from injury, allowed young midfielders Adam Murphy and Ruebin Sheppard to start in the Reds’ engine room on Friday evening.

Murphy played the full 90 minutes and even came close to scoring when only a deflection denied him in the second half, while Sheppard went about his business smartly before being replaced by Louie Derrick moments after the hour mark.

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Of course, given the competition for places in the middle of the park heading into the new season, it is unclear just how much first-team football both youngsters will play over the coming months. However, the Reds’ head coach has been impressed by what he has seen from the pair so far.

“I think, of course, Adam is the whole time with us and I’m not surprised that he can bring a good performance,” Struber explained. “At the same time, he has some to-dos in dynamic moments to be a little bit cleaner, but we are right now happy with his improvements, how he worked, and also his engagement and commitment.

“He is on the field to do and give his best. With Ruebin, he’s a very young kid. The last few days, he trained a little bit with us and right now he gets the chance today.”

After Saturday’s friendly with Argyle, Struber’s players will have one more chance to stake their claim for a starting place on the first day of the season when they welcome Real Valladolid to BS3 next weekend.

The clash with the Spanish second tier side will be the Robins’ final friendly of the summer before they kick-off the new campaign with a repeat of last season’s play-off semi-final, away to Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.

READ MORE: Gerhard Struber details Bristol City’s ‘to-do list’ after Robins’ friendly draw with CheltenhamREAD MORE: Cheltenham Town 0-0 Bristol City recap: Struber’s Robins held to draw in friendly clash