Football City boss happy with academy graduates in their first senior starts

GERHARD Struber has offered his verdict on Ephraim Yeboah and Elijah Morrison's first senior Bristol City starts, with the Robins boss hopeful that the experience of featuring in the Reds' Carabao Cup win over MK Dons will help both youngsters' development.

- Daniel CARTER [e-mail]

The Robins booked their place in the second round of the competition with a comfortable 2-0 win over League Two opposition on Tuesday evening. A goal apiece from Jason Knight and Yu Hirakawa, either side of the break, was enough to maintain the Reds' unbeaten start to the season and secure a first home win for the new head coach.

While the majority of City's starting lineup and bench was made up of senior players, Struber opted to hand academy graduates Yeboah and Morrison their first competitive starts. Both players have featured for the first team in the past, Yeboah under Nigel Pearson primarily and Morrison under Liam Manning, but have been unable to keep a regular place in the squad.

Although the Austrian was pleased to have given both players competitive minutes and happy with their displays, he admitted there were things that he felt they needed to improve so that they're ready to make an impact in the Championship.