Defender ruled out of Sheffield United fixture as Bristol City boss shares mixed injury update
Bristol City boss Michael Skubala has shared some mixed news on the injury front ahead of the clash with Sheffield United this weekend.
Bristol City will once again be without centre-back Noah Eile for Saturday’s Championship clash with Sheffield United at Ashton Gate, manager Michael Skubala has confirmed.
The defender, who joined the Robins from New York Red Bulls in February, has not featured since the international break, missing the recent clashes with Charlton Athletic and Blackburn Rovers due to illness.
Following Tuesday night’s 1-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers at Ashton Gate, Robins boss Skubala admitted that he was hopeful Eile would return to training in the near future. However, with the visit of Chris Wilder’s side looming, the defender has yet to return to action.
Skubala, speaking at his pre-match press conference on Thursday afternoon, as quoted by Bristol Live, said: "Noah's still not in training. He's poorly. We think we know what it is.
"It's a health issue, not an injury, but he needs to have more assessments to really dig a little bit deeper into that with the doctors. He's quite poorly, but we'll hopefully know more in time. He's had some tests, but he needs more.
"To be clear, through the international break of three weeks and now, Noah's probably trained two or three times in four weeks. Not only is he poorly and ill - and we wish him the best and a quick recovery - but even when he's back, it's going to take a bit of time to get him back into training.
"We expect him to be back, but it's a health issue, not an injury issue."
Meanwhile, Skubala refused to rule out the possibility of summer signing Lorent Tolaj being available for the clash with the Blades. The striker has missed the last two matches due to a minor injury, but Skubala, speaking earlier this week, suggested that Tolaj could feature in some capacity on Saturday afternoon.
"Tolly might be Saturday," Skubala said earlier this week. "If not, I think Tolly will be [fit] for the next game.
“This Saturday might come too soon for him, but he might make the bench. If not, he’ll be involved, hopefully, the Saturday after [away at Stoke]."
Elsewhere, Joe Williams remains unavailable for selection.