Mark Robins has praised the efforts of his side following their positive start to the 2021/22 season.
City currently sit 4th in the Championship after four games, having picked up nine points from their opening four fixtures.
Robins praised the attitude of his whole squad, not just the eleven players who are picked on a matchday.
“If you’re going to have a squad then you’ve got to use the squad and they’ve got to be ready to respond when they are called upon and I think that’s certainly what’s happening at the moment and moving forward that is going to be really important for everybody because you can’t get everybody in the side but they need to be in a position to perform at the highest levels when called upon when asked to do.
“You can certainly only keep 11 players happy at any one time, that’s for sure, but the others have to remain focused and that’s the challenge for them as well to make sure they are fresh in the brains to make sure they are working as hard as they possibly can do to say, ‘I’m here’.
“I say it to them all the time they pick the team. Their performances mean they are thought about and they come to the forefront of your mind because what you are seeing is what you want to see, and you can make those changes accordingly depending on who’s preforming the best.
“I think a lot of it is about that and some of it is about tactical stuff and the tactical know how, how you need to go about certain games and they have to be ready, it’s as simple as that. If they are not, then they fall by the wayside and that would be the worst thing any of them could do really.”
Robins also provided an update on the latest fitness of Bright Enobakhare, who suffered an injury against Northampton Town during his only appearance this season.
“He’s not been fit and there has been a personal issue for him he had to deal with, and there was an injury after the Northampton game so that’s where it’s at.
“He’s starting to train and obviously he is behind the others because he missed a large chunk of what we’ve done so far so he is still playing catch up at the moment.”
Another positive in the fitness department was the return of Matty Godden last weekend, who came off the bench to score the winner against Reading.
“He is certainly physically there, he is mentally there and, yes, I would imagine he is chomping at the bit.” Robins said.
“You can see it in him in his performances, the fact that he is moving as well as he is moving is doing, he is moving as well as prior to his injury last year.
“The fact he has had the rest that he’s had has hopefully cleaned up all those little aliments and he’s ready to go.
“You can see from his movements that, he is a top finisher anyway, but you can see from his movement that he is back to near to where he wants to be. I think there is still a little bit to go but he is there or there abouts now.”