Liam Manning lifts lid on Harry Cornick's position at Bristol City after 'honest' summer talks

Liam Manning has admitted he held conversations with Harry Cornick about leaving Bristol City in the summer but insists he remains an available option ahead of Saturday's meeting with Plymouth Argyle.

Cornick arrived at Ashton Gate in January 2023, joining the Robins from Luton Town in what proved to be Nigel Pearson's penultimate transfer window in charge of the Reds, but struggled to hit the ground running in City colours.

Although Manning rarely named the 29-year-old in his starting line-up last season, he regularly utilised his services off of the bench and the forward finished the season with 45 appearances and three goals under his belt in all competitions.

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However, the versatile attacker is yet to make an appearance in the Championship so far this season with his only competitive appearance coming in the Robins' Carabao Cup defeat to Coventry City back in August.

While his role on the playing field has been greatly reduced, Manning was quick to heap praise on Cornick for the example that he has set both on the training ground and around the rest of the squad.

"He's an unbelievable role model of what you'd want in a professional," Manning admitted in his pre-match press conference. "I know he would have been frustrated.

"I had some honest chats with him in the summer around the possibility that minutes would be limited here and there are options out there for him and made the decision to stay.

"I can't commend him enough for what he brings culturally and how he applies himself, especially now when you have so many games. In a small group training session this morning, he's driving it, he's leading it.

"Look, he's a terrific pro and one that I know will be frustrated not to have played a lot."

The City frontline has come under pressure in recent weeks with the Robins' attack looking rather blunt in front of goal in their defeats to both Watford and Burnley following the November international break.

Manning has had to rely on the goals of Nahki Wells at the top end of the field as both Fally Mayulu and Sinclair Armstrong continue to find their feet having joined the ranks at Ashton Gate this summer.

Mayulu came off of the bench for the final 20 minutes of the Reds' 1-0 defeat to Watford last time out and while the Frenchman had a couple of decent touches, he struggled to get too involved in proceedings and failed to register a single touch in the Hornets' penalty area.

Some supporters have been quick to suggest Manning should be turning to Cornick ahead of both new look forwards when the Robins are chasing a goal and the City boss admitted that could happen in the coming weeks.

"I think if he's going to help the team win definitely," the 39-year-old admitted. "I wouldn't rule anybody out."

The lack of goals at the top end of the field has naturally led to questions over whether or not Bristol City could enter the market when January rolls around to add to their striking options.

Although Manning did admit that work is continuously ongoing in the background to identify new potential transfer targets, the City boss refused to be drawn into discussing whether or not a new forward could be signed when the transfer window opens again.

"The work is going on, there are meetings going on but I think at the minute it's still such early stages," Manning explained. "We've got so many games to play, there are so many things that could happen before then.

"I'm sure if in two, three weeks time our front players have scored loads of goals you won't be asking that question. For me, every position we're constantly working on, whether it be for January, whether it be for next summer or a couple of windows ahead.

"For me, it's never-ending and the recruitment guys do a great job of that continuously watching live games, games on video and constantly updating our database of players from all around the world."

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