Dylan Kadji has been training with Bristol City's senior side this summer following a successful period with the U23 side last season. 

The midfielder hasn't had as much game time as he would've liked due to suffering with injury but, nevertheless, manager Nigel Pearson seems to be impressed with what he's seen so far.

The Robins boss has shown he isn't shy to giving youngsters their debuts, having handed out nine first team debuts last season, and Kadij could be on track to be next.

When asked if the player could make the step up to the senior set up, Pearson told Bristol Live: "Potentially. But don't pigeon-hole him, don't label him as being the next one to break in because he has a bit of an unfortunate pre-season where he has been training with us for a while now.

"He got injured and was out for a while which meant he missed out on the opportunity to come to Austria with us.

"I thought he did really well [in the pre-season against Bournemouth] when he went on, he was dynamic, he's got good physical attributes but I'm not going to label players or try and put undue pressure on them."

Whilst impressed by his talent, the boss is keen not to put too much pressure on the shoulders of his young players, as he reiterated: "There's enough pressure when they're first-team training - that puts them under pressure so they don't need the added one of being spoken about too highly in the media when they are making their way in the game."

 

 

The Verdict: 

Pearson has already shown he's happy to put faith in some of the younger players at the club and why not if the players are showing the potential.

At just 18-years-old, Kadij has shown he has ability and is worthy of being in the first team environment. However, with his injury this summer, there's also no need to rush him or his progress if he's not ready because he has plenty of time.

You can see why the manager is keen not to lump pressure on the player either as he will not be a core part of the team this year, but if he can take his chances when given them, he could well be on his way to becoming one.