Rob Atkinson injury update as Gerhard Struber ‘really happy’ after Bristol City win at Blackburn

Bristol City defender Rob Atkinson was withdrawn at half-time as the Robins came from behind to beat Blackburn Rovers

Bristol City defender Rob Atkinson in action(Image: Photo by Jasper Wax/Getty Images)

Rob Atkinson’s ankle injury that forced him off against Blackburn Rovers “looks not so good,” Gerhard Struber has revealed, but the Bristol City boss was “really happy” with his side’s performance at Ewood Park.

The Robins secured a first win in three Championship matches as they came from behind to beat Blackburn 2-1 in Lancashire on Tuesday evening. First-half goals from Emil Riis and Scott Twine proved to be enough for City to claim all three points.

Riis and Twine both struck home their ninth league goal of the campaign after Yuki Ohashi had handed Michael O’Neill’s side the lead at Ewood Park. The win is enough to see the Reds climb up to eighth in the table, albeit still four points adrift of the play-off places.

OPINION

READ MORE: Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Bristol City reaction: Twine and Riis secure win for Robins away from home

However, the result came at a cost. Having received lengthy treatment following a heavy challenge late in the first half, Atkinson didn’t re-emerge after the break in Lancashire, with Neto Borges taking his place on the left side of the Robins’ backline.

Asked by Bristol Live about the defender’s issue, Struber said, “Rob has, I would say, again something on his ankle. I don’t know, I have to see the action again.

“I think he over-rolled his ankle, and this looks not so good at the moment. Also, with the topic of Rob Dickie, we are not lucky in this direction, with the injuries. We have to deal with that.

“I would say maybe tomorrow, we get a scan, and then we know more,” the City head coach added. “But I have not such a big hope for the Friday game with him, at the moment.”

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With Atkinson off the field, the Reds had much less control in the second half of their win at Ewood Park than they had over the course of the opening 45 minutes, where they bossed Blackburn for large periods.

The home side came close to a leveller on a number of occasions, with it taking an important intervention from George Tanner to deny substitute Andri Gudjohnsen and a brilliant Radek Vitek save to keep Moussa Baradji deep in second-half stoppage time.

Rovers had come into the meeting with City having won both of their first two matches under the management of Northern Ireland boss O’Neill. Although such momentum ensured things were far from comfortable for Struber’s side, he was delighted with the two different sides his players showed over the contest as a whole.

“We expect today a really challenging moment,” the head coach explained. “We know the aggression from Blackburn Rovers, we know the intensity, we know the directness – especially the vertical branding from them right now.

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“For us, what was important was that we found, in possession, really big control and combinations, so we can break them down. I would say the first half show us, especially with the reaction from the lead from Blackburn, how we react, how we bounce back with high-speed combinations, with really big creativity, then it was really difficult for them to find reference players.

“We overloaded sometimes with numbers, sometimes with dynamic and it was really difficult for them to find pressure against us and control. We have in the first half, everything in our hands.

“The second half was more difficult for us. They have a big aggression and give us no space to build up our game, and then it was more about how we defend our own goal.

“We had not the control in the second half that we would like, but it was more a big attitude and a big engagement in all directions to save the result and bring the points home. In this direction, I would say I’m really happy, especially with our capitano.”

READ MORE: Bristol City bounce back in style to inflict defeat on Blackburn RoversREAD MORE: Bristol City loan star Yu Hirakawa set for scan as Hull City fear severe injury blow

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