Bristol City transfer news: Robins to consider striker options following Tommy Conway injury blow

Bristol City boss Nigel Pearson is expected to assess his striking options after news that Tommy Conway could miss the next three months of the season.

It’s understood the 21-year-old talent suffered a hamstring injury during the Robins’ Championship opener against Preston on Saturday and is set for an unwelcome period on the sidelines.

It’s the forward’s second such injury this year, with Conway forced to sit out 14 games over the second half of last term.

That put a dampener on an impressive breakthrough season at Ashton Gate that saw him score 12 goals and record four assists from his 38 games played in all competitions.

Reaching out to fans via social media, the Scotland Under-21 international admitted he was ‘beyond gutted’ to have suffered the injury blow so early into a new campaign.

He said: ‘Beyond gutted. As you may have seen, I’ll be cheering the boys on from the sidelines for a bit & doing everything I can to be back on the pitch soon.’

That watching brief from the stands will include tonight’s Carabao Cup game against Oxford United - a fixture Conway would likely have started after being named on the bench against Preston.

But also taking note of how the team performs in the absence of Conway will be Pearson, who will surely now be weighing up his options knowing that one of his striker options will be unavailable for up to 12 weeks.

At present, 33-year-old Nahki Wells is the only senior specialist who can operate in that role.

And while Pearson could turn to the likes of former Luton forward Harry Cornick and the inexperienced Sam Bell - both of whom started up front against the Lilywhites at the weekend - there’s surely the temptation to look at what’s available elsewhere given expectation levels this summer.

City have recruited well this summer by bringing in midfielders Jason Knight and Ross McCrorie, plus defenders Haydon Roberts and Rob Dickie.

Cornick, who has scored one league goal in 18 appearances, was the last forward signed by the Robins (January 2023) following the £10m sale of Antoine Semenyo to Bournemouth.

Pearson has 23 days of the transfer window remaining to make up his mind.