Nigel Pearson ‘disappointed’ as Alex Scott nears move to Bournemouth

Nigel Pearson confirmed Bristol City midfielder Alex Scott was speaking to Bournemouth after seeing his side reach the Carabao Cup second round.

The Robins thrashed Oxford 5-1 thanks to Jason Knight’s brace and goals from Harry Cornick, Nahki Wells and Kal Naismith.

Afterwards Pearson was asked to comment on reports that Scott had undergone a medical at Premier League club Bournemouth prior to big-money move.

He said: “The club has given Alex permission for that and I really don’t have anything more to say on it.”

Pressed on whether he had been planning without Scott for the campaign, Pearson added: “No, I have been planning to keep him.

“It’s nothing to do with me, it’s a club decision.

“I’m disappointed because we have a better chance of being successful if we keep our best players.”

On the game, which saw Billy Bodin equalise for Oxford before Knight’s double either side of half-time put City in charge, Pearson said: “I’m delighted for the players.

“One difference from our opening league match on Saturday was that our full-backs were more positive in getting forward.

“The scoreline sounds comprehensive, but Oxford were always in the game and caused us some problems.

“We were able to penetrate down the flanks and got in plenty of crosses, which wasn’t the case on Saturday.

“It’s always nice to blood young players and we were able to send on Ephraim Yeboah at a good time in the game for him. The hard work starts for Ephraim now.”

Oxford boss Liam Manning said: “It was a bit of a mixed bag for us really. We could have been three up before they scored and I thought the players carried out the game plan well for most of the first half.

“What you can’t do is give away poor goals at crucial times. I think we conceded one minute and six seconds into the second half. After that, we were taught a lesson by a very strong Championship side.

“It gets to a point where it’s damage limitation and players have to dig in for the good of the team. We did such good work in pre-season and even tonight there were signs of quality.

“The biggest thing now is how we respond and I expect to see a reaction from my players at the weekend.”