With Bristol City not in action until Sunday afternoon's trip to The Hawthorns, Liam Manning will likely be spending a rare week out on the grass with his players ahead of the festive period.

The Robins are without a win in their last three games and have only managed to win one of their six matches since the November international break, but barring a miserable 3-0 defeat to Portsmouth, the Reds have produced some impressive performances.

With four games in the space of 10 days over Christmas and New Year, Manning will need as many players fit and available as possible to ensure that City can reignite their push for the top six, starting against Carlos Corberan's side this weekend.

With that in mind, we've taken a look at the status of each injured player and when they could potentially return...

READ MORE: Marti Cifuentes lauds 'excellent' Bristol City player after what he did vs QPR at Ashton Gate

READ MORE: 'Summed up our season' - Scott Twine plans to reflect after 'annoying' Bristol City draw vs QPR

George Tanner

The 25-year-old hasn't played for the Robins since he hobbled off 23 minutes into their 3-1 win over Preston North End at Deepdale, but supporters may not have to wait too long to see him back in action.

Following Saturday afternoon's draw with QPR at Ashton Gate, Manning confirmed that the right-back was "close" to returning, having previously admitted Tanner was doing "bits" in training in the lead-up to the visit of Marti Cifuentes' side.

With Ross McCrorie back fit and available, there is no real need for City to rush Tanner back into the fold before he is ready, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see him return before the new year.

Possible squad return: Plymouth Argyle (a) - January 1

Kal Naismith

Another player who shouldn't be a million miles away from returning to the fold, Naismith hasn't featured for Bristol City since he was replaced late on in the Reds' last-minute defeat to Sheffield United at Ashton Gate.

The 32-year-old has been limited to just six league appearances so far this term as a result of fitness issues, but Chris Hogg admitted ahead of the Robins' defeat to Portsmouth that the defender had been "out on the grass", with a view to returning in the "coming weeks."

Although it is unclear when exactly Naismith will be ready to feature, the good form of Luke McNally, Rob Dickie and Zak Vyner means the Scotsman won't be thrown back in unnecessarily quickly, but could also feature before the new year.

Possible squad return: Plymouth Argyle (a) - January 1

Mark Sykes

The other casualty of City's defeat to Sheffield United, Sykes limped off of the Ashton Gate turf with just six minutes on the clock as the Robins were beaten by the Blades.

Although the injury was only believed to be minor, Manning confirmed after the Robins' defeat to Burnley in November that the Ireland international had suffered a small setback which would rule him out for "a couple of weeks".

Like Naismith, Hogg revealed ahead of the Robins' trip to Portman Road that Sykes was back on the grass and expected to return in the coming weeks so it wouldn't be a surprise to see the former Oxford United man in a squad over the festive period.

Possible squad return: Plymouth Argyle (a) - January 1

Sinclair Armstrong

The latest addition to the treatment room at the Robins High Performance Centre, Armstrong missed City's draw with QPR at Ashton Gate with an unspecified injury having led the line only days earlier against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

"Sincs has picked up a little injury so he's going to be missing for the weekend," Manning confirmed last week. "We're still assessing that at the moment. Like I said, it's going to be a while, we're just looking at it at the minute with some assessments so I'll let you know when we know."

While it remains unclear just how long the Ireland youth international will be ruled out for, the Robins boss will likely provide an update on Armstrong's situation ahead of the clash with West Brom this weekend.

Joe Williams

While City have coped well in the absence of Williams, who hasn't played since the Reds' win over Preston at Deepdale, the midfielder's absence has exposed their lack of depth in the middle of the park.

The Reds only really have Jason Knight, Max Bird and Marcus McGuane to call upon to start in their deeper midfield role and that could well be the case for a little while longer, with Manning confirming Williams' injury was set to rule him out long-term.

"Joe’s going to be out for a considerable time, he had a partial tear of the Achilles," explained the City boss after the November international break. "We’re talking months for Joe. It’s a really unfortunate one and one that’s tricky to heal just because of how the Achilles tend to repair so he’s one we’re going to have to be careful with.”

It is too early to speculate when exactly the former Wigan midfielder could be ready to feature again, but it would be a surprise to see him back in City colours in the immediate future.

Ayman Benarous

The poor lad simply cannot catch a break having last played a first-team game all the way back in 2022, but it appears as though he is still a while away from returning to the fold himself.

Hogg confirmed the young attacking midfielder was still working "with the medical staff" ahead of Bristol City's clash with Portsmouth as he looked to get his body "back and going" after successive ACL injuries.

Hopefully, we'll Benarous back involved before his contract at Ashton Gate expires at the end of the season, but it is far too early to begin to suggest when he could be included in Manning's first-team squad again.

Adam Murphy

The Irish midfielder has become a bit of a forgotten figure at Ashton Gate having joined from St Patrick's Athletic in last year's January transfer window. Murphy is yet to make a first-team appearance for the Reds and like Benarous is dealing with a more "long-term" issue according to Hogg.

"Murph's been fit and being involved with the 21s a couple of times in training and stuff," explained the City assistant head coach. "Both [he and Benarous] are pretty similar really in terms of where they've been at. It's more longer term."

Of course, like Benarous it is unclear when the 19-year-old could be ready to make his return to the Reds squad, but the expectation would be that he would play for the under-21s again before featuring for the first team.

READ MORE: League Two boss shares four-word explanation as Bristol City loanee missing from matchday squad

READ MORE: League One manager plans to keep hold of Bristol City loanee beyond January transfer window