Sykes out with quad injury and Bird return delayed

Bristol City will be without midfielder Mark Sykes for a "few weeks" due to injury while Max Bird has also had a setback with his return.

Sykes went off at half-time during the 1-0 defeat by Coventry on Saturday with a quad injury.

Bristol City face Middlesbrough at home this weekend before visiting West Bromwich Albion on Boxing Day, Millwall on 29 December and hosting Portsmouth on New Year's Day.

"Sykesy will be out for the next few weeks with a quad injury and may be back in the middle of January, which will be a really good time frame," Bristol City head coach Gerhard Struber told BBC Radio Bristol.

Bird last played in mid-September, due to a calf injury originally sustained in July during pre-season.

The 25-year-old scored during the 4-2 win against Hull, one of just four league matches he has featured in so far.

"He's at the moment not 100% ready... We want to give him the time he needs that when he comes back he is 100% ready," Struber said.

Struber added Bird is "frustrated" by the setback.

"Of course he's frustrated and not happy about the situation but he's very strong, very strong mentality, and I am super convinced that he will be soon back," he said.

However, the Robins hope to have centre-back Zak Vyner and defender George Tanner available for Saturday's Boro visit, after the duo were missing against Coventry due to a knee and ankle injury respectively.

Centre-back Rob Atkinson is also back in training ahead of this weekend's match, having not played since 1 November due to a hamstring injury.

"It looks at the moment good, they [Vyner and Tanner] had an individual training session [on Tuesday] and both of them gave me really good feedback so hopefully when everything goes right they are available on Saturday," Struber said.

"This [Atkinson] looks really good and he is training with the team on a really good level."