Football City's Blades clash looks too soon for recovering midfielder

GERHARD Struber has provided an update on the fitness of Max Bird ahead of Bristol City’s season opener against Sheffield United, admitting that there is a chance the weekend's clash could come too soon for the midfielder to feature.

- Daniel CARTER

While Bird did travel with Struber’s squad for their warm-weather training camp in Portugal last month, the Reds confirmed that he would be following an individual training programme whilst away from BS3, having sustained a calf injury.

Upon the conclusion of the Algarve camp, City confirmed that both the 24-year-old and fellow midfielder Joe Williams had progressed well, with the hope being that they would be available for the start of the season. However, neither player took part in the Robins’ final friendly of the summer, a 4-0 win over Spanish second-tier side Real Valladolid.