Liam Manning admits he would rather Fally Mayulu remained a Bristol City player beyond the January transfer window, rather than leave Ashton Gate on loan this month.

The French forward joined the Robins in the summer transfer window from Rapid Vienna in a deal understood to be worth up to £2.5million and he made an immediate impact, scoring off of the bench in his first two Championship outings against Hull City and Millwall.

However, the 22-year-old has not found the net since and has only managed to start three league games in his first half a season at Ashton Gate.

READ MORE: Dan Bentley opens up over 'difficult' Bristol City exit, Wolves move and Ashton Gate return

READ MORE: John Mousinho makes Rob Atkinson transfer admission after Bristol City loanee's Portsmouth debut

Mayulu did appear off of the bench as the Reds beat Derby County 1-0 last time out. While he did perform better than he has done in his recent starts, he was unable to convert a couple of scoring chances and Manning admitted after the full-time whistle the striker and his teammates struggle with "confidence and anxiety" just like any other human.

Although Rob Atkinson was allowed to join Portsmouth on loan for the remainder of the season last week so that he could build his confidence after almost two years on the sidelines, Manning believes Mayulu would be better served remaining in the West Country.

"Yes, as it stands yes," Manning told Bristol Live when asked if he would rather the 22-year-old stayed with the Robins this month than depart on loan.

"I think it's for different reasons. Rob's more for confidence in his body, the fact that he's not played games for long and being able to play Saturday, Tuesday and Saturday. We can play him in under-21s games, but the physical demands and the volume of games are completely different. The big part for Rob in terms of confidence wise was to go and get minutes and do that.

"Fally's slightly different. Fally's progressing all the time. In terms of when I look at it, naturally, he wants to do well. I've never met a player who steps on the pitch and doesn't. They're all desperate to do well and help the team and Fally's no different to that.

"I get the added advantage that I see the progress he's making in training and the areas that we've been working on he is improving at, hence when he plays a game or plays minutes, I know what I'm looking for in terms of progress. He's getting better, he's one that when you bring someone in you want them to hit the ground running, but we're quite clear we don't sign the finished article so there shouldn't be any expectation or demand that he does it straight away.

"If he does, great, we hope so, but it doesn't change my opinion on Fally. I think he's got all the attributes and he's heading in the right direction, we just have to be a little bit patient with him."

Bristol City aren't expected to be particularly busy when it comes to incoming business this month, with the emphasis expected to be on moving players out before adding to Manning's playing squad.

While the Reds head coach insists it's "possible" that players will move away from Ashton Gate before the window closes at the end of January, he admits that City can't always dictate what will happen when it comes to departures.

"Everything is possible until there's something there in front of you," explained the 39-year-old. "We have to be proactive with the work that we do, but there's also an element where you have to be reactive off the market.

"Obviously, with people moving on, we don't dictate that necessarily."

READ MORE: League Two side cast eye over Bristol City youngster in training fixture

READ MORE: Weston-super-Mare confirm January departures of three Bristol City academy players