Bristol City are facing an injury crisis at centre-back ahead of Blackburn Rovers' visit to Ashton Gate.

Rovers are incredibly well-stocked in that position, with six senior players available to pick from for John Eustace. Liam Manning does not have the same luxury though.

The Robins are without Rob Dickie, who has been ruled out for seven to ten days, ruling him out of Wednesday night's match. 

“Rob felt it on Monday, he reported it, he was off Tuesday and came in on Wednesday and was still feeling it so we pulled him out,” Manning said. 

READ MORE: Eustace hints at Rovers change after injury blow

“It’ll be about 7-10 days. You never know, I get given a number and we have to work off how he feels.

“Finishing the season strongly is really important. If we can get him back we want to keep him back, we don’t want to risk him over the summer but I want to win as many games as we can over the final five, and that’s the big message for the players and for all of us: building momentum is really important.

“We all know how important Rob is for us so I think it’s a case of seeing how he responds this week.”

Kal Naismith is also out after suffering a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury. He is likely to miss the remainder of the season and won't be back from pre-season, along with Rob Atkinson.

That leaves Bristol City with Zak Vyner and Haydon Roberts as their only senior options. The latter has only really featured at left-back or in a three-man defence which could cause a reshuffle.

Under-21s captain Jamie Knight-Lebel could be called into action. The young Canadian defender has only got two substitute appearances to his name.

“If Jamie is going to help us, I have no issue (playing him),” Manning added. 

“If you look around him, the team is quite young in general. It’s not about handing out token minutes but there’s a pathway at the club - we’ve shown that - but it’s about earning it, that’s really important. In this industry, in this game, you have to earn everything.

“Jamie’s progressing, he’s getting better, he’s got to keep building on the good bits he’s shown and if he deserves the opportunity and he fights for it, he’ll get it.”