![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_Robins-uncut.jpg\")
Joe Williams and Max Bird have missed parts of Bristol City’s pre-season(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\nBristol City and Gerhard Struber start the new Championship season with a trip to Bramall Lane to face Sheffield United<\/p>\n
16:00, 06 Aug 2025Updated 16:04, 06 Aug 2025<\/p>\n
Joe Williams and Max Bird have missed parts of Bristol City’s pre-season(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Gerhard Struber has confirmed that Bristol City\u2019s season-opener against Sheffield United will come too soon for either Joe Williams or Max Bird to feature, with both midfielders set to sit out the trip to Bramall Lane.<\/p>\n
The Robins travel to the Steel City for their first game of the 2025\/26 campaign on Saturday evening and will face Ruben Selles\u2019 Blades<\/a> in front of the Sky Sports Cameras. It will be the Reds\u2019 third meeting with United in as many competitive matches after they were beaten in the play-offs last term by Chris Wilder\u2019s side.<\/p>\n Williams missed the second leg of that semi-final clash with an ankle ligament injury<\/a> he sustained in the first leg at Ashton Gate. Bird, on the other hand, started both matches but was replaced on the hour mark at Bramall Lane as City looked to find a way back into the tie.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Gerhard Struber interview notebook: Bristol City transfers, board goals and Hasenh\u00fcttl’s advice<\/a>READ MORE: Sheffield United accept ‘significant bid’ for ex-international days before Bristol City visit<\/a><\/p>\n Neither player featured in any of the Robins\u2019 pre-season friendly fixtures, with Williams continuing his recovery from his existing injury, and Bird picking up a calf injury before the warm-weather camp in Portugal. While the Reds were originally hopeful both midfielders would be ready to feature on the opening weekend, fans will have to wait a little longer to see them take to the field.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, they\u2019re not involved in the roster,\u201d Struber told Bristol Live<\/a> on Wednesday lunchtime. \u201cThis game is a little bit too early.<\/p>\n “This game looks different to when we go on Tuesday in our Carabao [Cup] game. I think, maybe Birdy could take some minutes on Tuesday. This looks good.”<\/p>\n \u201cI think so,\u201d Struber continued when asked if the meeting with MK Dons would come too soon for Williams to return. \u201cJoe, maybe Charlton. We will see.\u201d<\/p>\n Because of each of their injuries, Struber and his coaching staff\u2019s time on the training ground with Williams and Bird will have been limited since his appointment in June. Both players travelled with the rest of the squad to Portugal for the pre-season training camp, but followed their own training programmes.<\/p>\n As has been visible over the course of this summer\u2019s friendlies, the new head coach has brought a different style of play to Ashton Gate<\/a>, with the Reds aiming to play a front-foot, pressing game. Although the formation has looked similar to the one utilised by Liam Manning, the way in which the players have played has been noticeably different.<\/p>\n Pre-season has given the bulk of Struber\u2019s squad the chance to adapt to such changes. While the head coach admits Williams and Bird\u2019s injuries mean they may not be as physically prepared, he is confident they will be able to slot back in once fit and available.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, this is a challenge that in the end, they do have not as much training in their legs,” Struber explained. “What they have had, nevertheless, are many meetings with us together and the team.<\/p>\n “I think they have an understanding of what we want, and in the end, it\u2019s always a football game; it\u2019s not a special one. It\u2019s more about how they can stay on the field with a high intensity, and at the same time, they don\u2019t drop out with a new injury. In this direction, we have to find a good load plan with them for the next two weeks, a clear individual periodisation for them.<\/p>\n “But right now, I have a good feeling that they can step, very early, back into the team.\u201d<\/p>\n On top of Williams and Bird, Struber will be without Rob Dickie<\/a>, who continues to serve his suspension following his sending off in last season’s play-off clash, and longer-term absentees Cam Pring, Max O\u2019Leary, and Luke McNally.<\/p>\n Join Bristol City Live’s Whatsapp community for all the biggest Bristol City stories sent straight to your phone<\/strong><\/p>\n Bristol City Live<\/a> is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.<\/p>\n Through the app, we\u2019ll send the Bristol City news, live match coverage, team news, transfers, fixtures, analysis and more straight to your phone.<\/p>\n To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select \u2018Join Community\u2019.<\/a><\/p>\n No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live<\/a> team.<\/p>\n We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don\u2019t like our community, you can check out at any time you like.<\/p>\n To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose \u2018Exit group\u2019.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.<\/a><\/p>\n Click here to join our WhatsApp community.<\/a><\/p>\n McNally is continuing his recovery from an ACL injury<\/a> sustained in February, while both O\u2019Leary and Pring underwent surgery on ankle issues in July. Neither player was expected to feature at the start of the new campaign, but Struber is adamant they\u2019re progressing in the right direction.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re a little bit out of my timeline,\u201d the City boss admitted when asked about O\u2019Leary and Pring. \u201cOf course, they need a longer time, but I would say with both players, they make good steps in the recovery room.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, we know these are key players, and also, I realise in the time with Cam Pring in Portugal, I know how important he can be in his actions for the team and his attitude. In more directions, he is a very interesting player. It is what it is, and we have to do the best with both players so that they come quickly back.<\/p>\n \u201cBut at the moment, they have different topics, like our games.\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE: Gerhard Struber sets out what Manchester United loanee Radek Vitek will bring to Bristol City<\/a>READ MORE: Ross McCrorie: Bristol City defender on Struber impact, scoring touch and Yeboah’s ‘new level’<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bristol City and Gerhard Struber start the new Championship season with a trip to Bramall Lane to face…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8817],"tags":[2686,748,393,4884,1620,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-324518","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sheffield","8":"tag-bristol-city-fc","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-sheffield","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114986095149569873","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1_JS368308426.jpg\")
Joe Williams picked up an injury in Bristol City’s defeat to Sheffield United last season(Image: EFL)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0_WhatsApp-Phone.jpg\")
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