Whites boss Daniel Farke was without six players for last weekend’s FA Cup hosting of Plymouth Argyle which ended in a 1-1 draw, meaning a Tuesday night fourth round replay at the other end of the country. But attention now turns back to the club’s Championship promotion bid, ahead of which the injury situation has slightly improved.
Bristol City, meanwhile, were in action on Tuesday night at Coventry City in a rollercoaster affair which ended in a 2-2 draw. Liam Manning’s Robins also have injury issues and here we run through the absentees from both camps for Friday night’s 8pm kick-off for which a pair are returning.
7. Ayman Benarous (out)
The Robins announced in November that Benarous would be out for a sustained period after injuring his hamstring. Photo: Harry Trump
8. Mark Sykes (doubt)
The Bristol City midfielder has now returned to training upon recovering from a hamstring injury but it is thought that he would be looking at next week before making a return. Sykes was not involved on Tuesday night at Coventry. Photo: George Wood
9. Kal Naismith (doubt)
Naismith is in a similar boat in that he has returned to training upon his recovery from a hamstring injury but boss Liam Manning said earlier this month that Naismith was a bit further behind some of others and that is was hard to put a timescale on when he would return. Photo: George Wood
10. Archie Gray (back)
Gray missed last weekend's FA Cup clash against Plymouth due to the knee injury suffered in the midweek win against Norwich City but the issue was thankfully not serious and boss Daniel Farke revealed at Wednesday's pre-match press conference that Gray was back in training. Photo: George Wood
11. Crysencio Summerville (back)
Summerville also missed out last weekend due to an adductor issue but the winger also returned to training this week. Photo: George Wood