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Bristol City goalkeeper Radek Vitek joined the Robins on loan from Manchester United(Image: Photo by Stephen White – CameraSport via Getty Images)<\/p>\nBristol City’s Manchester United loanee, Radek Vitek, has missed each of the Robins’ last four matches with a knee injuryBristol City goalkeeper Radek Vitek joined the Robins on loan from Manchester United(Image: Photo by Stephen White – CameraSport via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Radek Vitek looks “really good” following a small procedure on a knee injury, according to Gerhard Struber, and the Bristol City<\/a> boss expects the Manchester United loanee to be able to jump back into contention “super soon.”<\/p>\n The 22-year-old, who started the Reds’ first 21 Championship matches this term having made the temporary switch to Ashton Gate from Old Trafford<\/a> in the summer, has missed each of City’s last four games after suffering an injury, in training, midway through December.<\/p>\n In his absence, the Robins’ number one, Max O’Leary, has returned to the starting line-up<\/a> over the course of the festive period. The Ireland international kept his second clean sheet of the term as Struber’s side kicked off 2026 in style, thrashing Portsmouth 5-0 in BS3<\/a> on New Year’s Day.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Gerhard Struber details striker search ‘hope’ as Bristol City boss explains permanent preference<\/a>READ MORE: Sam Morsy to ‘give everything’ at Bristol City as Robins confirm signing of ex-Ipswich captain<\/a><\/p>\n Vitek’s issue required a small procedure, after which, City suggested in a statement that they expected the goalkeeper to be available again in February<\/a>.<\/p>\n With Sunday’s visit of Preston North End followed by an FA Cup<\/a> clash with Watford at Ashton Gate next weekend, Struber seemed to suggest that an earlier-than-expected return to action isn’t completely out of the question for the Czech stopper.<\/p>\n “Looks really good,” the head coach said when asked for the latest on the United loanee’s condition. “Really, really, really good, so I would say he jumps back super soon.<\/p>\n “[The] FA Cup is maybe a little bit too early, but we will see.”<\/p>\n Bristol City looking to build on last season’s play-off finish under Gerhard Struber 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 Of course, before attention turns to the FA Cup, the Robins have a chance to climb back into the Championship play-off places this weekend<\/a> when they host Preston. At the time of writing, the Lilywhites sit sixth in the table, one point and two places above the eighth-placed Reds following their New Year’s Day win over Sheffield Wednesday.<\/p>\n Goals from Alistair McCann, Milutin Osmajic, and Lewis Dobbin proved to be enough for Paul Heckingbottom’s side<\/a> to brush aside the struggling Owls to secure what was a first win in four games and move above Millwall in the standings after 25 matches.<\/p>\n When the two sides met at Deepdale earlier this season, spurned chances from Struber’s Reds saw the points shared on an afternoon in which Osmajic’s impact was limited by an impressive Rob Dickie performance<\/a> at the heart of City’s backline.<\/p>\n The Robins’ vice-captain was left out of the starting line-up to face Portsmouth<\/a> on New Year’s Day for the first time since August. Instead, he featured on the bench and was ultimately an unused substitute, with Struber confirming ahead of kick-off that the 29-year-old had felt his groin and would therefore not be risked.<\/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 Naturally, given the quick turnaround between matches, there would have been fears amongst supporters that such an issue would see Dickie sidelined again against North End. However, the Reds are hopeful the former QPR man will once again be fit and ready for selection on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n “It’s not an injury, but he feels the groin a little bit,” Struber explained to Bristol Live<\/a> on Thursday afternoon. “Not in a special point, but more in the whole hip.<\/p>\n “The hip flexor is a little bit irritated, and we want to give him a little bit of time to jump back. Hopefully, he is ready against Preston.”<\/p>\n READ MORE: What Ranel Young will bring to Bristol City as Robins confirm first signing of January window<\/a>READ MORE: Bristol City to ‘see how everything will go’ as Gerhard Struber explains Robins’ Sam Bell recall<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bristol City’s Manchester United loanee, Radek Vitek, has missed each of the Robins’ last four matches with a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671037,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,2686,748,393,97,14590,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-671036","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-fa-cup","13":"tag-football-league-championship","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115830903707222726","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671036","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=671036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1758015353_222_0_GettyImages-2232406771.jpg\")
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