![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2_Liam-Manning-Atkinson.jpg\")
Rob Atkinson left Bristol City on loan during the January transfer window(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\nRob Atkinson hasn’t made a first-team appearance for Bristol City since February 2023 when he suffered an ACL injuryRob Atkinson left Bristol City on loan during the January transfer window(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Liam Manning has discussed Rob Atkinson’s future beyond the end of his loan spell with Portsmouth, insisting Bristol City<\/a> will “get to the end of the season” before making any decisions after John Mousinho confirmed his interest in re-signing the defender.<\/p>\n Atkinson was one of three senior players to depart Ashton Gate on loan during the January transfer window, re-uniting with former Oxford United teammate Mousinho<\/a> at Fratton Park for the second half of the season. Prior to his spell on the South Coast, the 26-year-old hadn’t made a competitive first-team appearance for almost two years following an ACL injury and subsequent hamstring issues.<\/p>\n Although his time on loan has been interrupted by a calf issue, the centre-back has made a real impression on both the Pompey support and Mousinho, with the Portsmouth boss admitting earlier this week he would be interested in securing Atkinson’s services this summer<\/a> if the Reds are to make him available.<\/p>\n READ MORE: George Tanner: ‘I thought my season was done after whirlwind Bristol City injury and surgery’<\/a>READ MORE: Cam Pring and Joe Williams: Liam Manning shares Bristol City injury news ahead of Leeds clash<\/a><\/p>\n With two games still to play of the regular season and with a place in the Championship play-offs within the Robins’ grasp, Manning insists his focus remains on the remainder of the run-in<\/a> rather than what will happen to the 26-year-old during the summer window. However, the City boss was quick to praise both Atkinson and Mousinho their work over the last four months.<\/p>\n “It’s the same as probably Rob and myself,” the head coach told Bristol Live<\/a> on Thursday afternoon. “I think so much is going into getting to the end of the season here first and then naturally, the conversations will happen on situations, scenarios, and what things look like.<\/p>\n “I’m delighted for Rob, it was obviously one of those where he missed a large chunk of football through injury so the fact that he’s been able to get back in and start putting minutes together, that was the reason for the loan because it was quite unlikely it was going to happen here instantly with where we were at so it’s been really good for him.<\/p>\n Bristol City are fighting to secure their place in the play-off places and you won’t miss a beat with our free newsletter.<\/p>\n All the latest news, views, interviews, gossip and analysis concerning the Robins, delivered straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n It’s completely free and you can sign up HERE<\/a><\/p>\n “How John’s handled him has been excellent as well so it will be one of those where we’ll get to the end of the season and see.”<\/p>\n Having won promotion to the second tier as League One winners last season, Portsmouth<\/a> confirmed their place in next season’s Championship with two games still to play following their 1-0 win over Watford on Easter Monday<\/a>. Mousinho’s side currently sit 16th in the table, six points clear of Luton Town and the relegation zone with matches against Sheffield Wednesday and Hull City to come over the next eight days.<\/p>\n Atkinson has played an important role in Pompey’s success in the second half of the campaign. In the 11 matches the 26-year-old has started since moving to the South Coast, Mousinho’s side has picked up 23 points whilst only managing to claim six from the nine games the Robins loanee sat out.<\/p>\n Although the upturn in from is not all the defender’s own doing, he has stood out at times, particularly in the draw with Derby County where he scored a second-half brace, and an own goal to secure an unorthodox hattrick<\/a>.<\/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 Had the former Oxford United man remained at Ashton Gate this winter, he would have more than likely been called upon in recent weeks. The departure of Kal Naismith<\/a> later in the January transfer window partnered with season-ending injuries to both Luke McNally and Mark Sykes<\/a>, and potentially Cam Pring, have left Manning and the Reds rather short of defensive cover.<\/p>\n The likes of Haydon Roberts, George Tanner<\/a> and Ross McCrorie have had to fill in out of position at times and that will likely remain the case over the final two games of the campaign. Manning’s side’s final away match of the season sees them travel to Elland Road to face already-promoted Leeds United on Monday evening before they welcome Preston North End to BS3 on the final day of the season.<\/p>\n A win in either of those two games will be enough to guarantee the Reds a place in the play-offs.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Kal Naismith makes honest admission about future beyond end of Luton loan and Bristol City deal<\/a>READ MORE: World’s Strongest Man to line up for Bristol City in charity football clash with Bristol Rovers<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rob Atkinson hasn’t made a first-team appearance for Bristol City since February 2023 when he suffered an ACL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,2686,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-49758","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-bristol-city-fc","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114399420319367118","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49758","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=49758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2_Liam-Manning.jpg\")
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