Rob Atkinson hasn’t played a competitive game for Bristol City since February 2023
Liam Manning has received a major injury boost ahead of Bristol City’s trip to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, revealing that Rob Atkinson is back in contention for the Robins and could see an end to his 19-month injury nightmare.
The 26-year-old centre-back has been sidelined from competitive first-team action since February 2023, when he picked up an ACL injury against Sunderland. This issue saw the former Fulham youngster miss the remainder of the 2022-23 campaign along with the entirety of last term.
Atkinson played a regular part in pre-season – featuring in friendlies against Wolves, Newport County and Cheltenham Town. Yet, a minor issue sustained in late July further delayed his comeback.
But the defender is now fit and firing and is eager to compete for his spot in Manning’s backline ahead of their trip to Blackburn this weekend. Despite insisting Atkinson is available for selection, the Robins boss remains mindful following his recent injury history.
“He’s now in contention.” Manning told BBC Radio Bristol. “It’s one of those where he’s in a position to compete to get into the team but at the same time you have to be mindful of what the past 18 months have looked like in terms of the sheer volume of training, the volume of match minutes.
“He’ll want to compete and rightly so we want that from everyone but at the same point you have to respect people’s recent history.”
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