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Wanderers face a few injury issues as they prepare for their biggest game of the season on Tuesday night against Reading.
Phil Parkinson has revealed that both David Wheater and Marc Wilson pulled out of the squad to face Bristol City on Friday night through injury.
And it is understood regular number one Ben Alnwick was also a late withdrawal – his place on the bench at Ashton Gate taken by academy keeper Ben Williams who rushed in to link-up with the squad on the day of the game.
Alnwick had been suffering from a hip problem which had cast doubt on him facing West Brom last Monday.
Parkinson made five changes to his side in Bristol but revealed that two were made on the hoof after both Wheater and Wilson reported injuries on the eve of the game.
The manager said: “Wheater jarred his knee blocking a shot in training – he always blocks things, the ball is like a magnet to him sometimes. That was a shame.
“Bizarrely, Marc Wilson got a dead leg in the same session. He trained the rest of the session and then again in the morning but he felt the muscle stiffen in the warm-up.
“Sometimes it’s the braver person who says ‘I don’t think I can play’ but the problem was we didn’t have an out-and-out centre-back on the bench because of the Wheater situation.
“We had to ask Mark Little to play in an unaccustomed position. I felt for him because he was desperate to play against his old club in that right wing-back role, which is his best position. But he did well.”
Left-back Jonathan Grounds was also unavailable through illness, which meant Wanderers used Craig Noone as an auxiliary wing-back.
"I thought Nooney did really well in that role," Parkinson said. "The late changes meant we had to adapt but we did. I was really proud of that performance."
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Phil Parkinson has revealed that both David Wheater and Marc Wilson pulled out of the squad to face Bristol City on Friday night through injury.
And it is understood regular number one Ben Alnwick was also a late withdrawal – his place on the bench at Ashton Gate taken by academy keeper Ben Williams who rushed in to link-up with the squad on the day of the game.
Alnwick had been suffering from a hip problem which had cast doubt on him facing West Brom last Monday.
Parkinson made five changes to his side in Bristol but revealed that two were made on the hoof after both Wheater and Wilson reported injuries on the eve of the game.
The manager said: “Wheater jarred his knee blocking a shot in training – he always blocks things, the ball is like a magnet to him sometimes. That was a shame.
“Bizarrely, Marc Wilson got a dead leg in the same session. He trained the rest of the session and then again in the morning but he felt the muscle stiffen in the warm-up.
“Sometimes it’s the braver person who says ‘I don’t think I can play’ but the problem was we didn’t have an out-and-out centre-back on the bench because of the Wheater situation.
“We had to ask Mark Little to play in an unaccustomed position. I felt for him because he was desperate to play against his old club in that right wing-back role, which is his best position. But he did well.”
Left-back Jonathan Grounds was also unavailable through illness, which meant Wanderers used Craig Noone as an auxiliary wing-back.
"I thought Nooney did really well in that role," Parkinson said. "The late changes meant we had to adapt but we did. I was really proud of that performance."
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