Pring details dressing room focus before 'exciting' summer manager search
The Reds are yet to appoint Gerhard Struber's permanent successor after the decision was taken to relieve the Austrian of his duties and appoint Roy Hodgson on an interim basis until the end of the season, during the March international break.
So far, Hodgson has made a positive impact in south Bristol. The 78-year-old has won two, drawn two and lost one of his first five matches in charge of City, with games against Birmingham City and Stoke City still to come before he departs Ashton Gate for the second time.
In their statement confirming Struber's exit, the Robins confirmed a new, permanent head coach would be appointed for the 2026/27 campaign. The recruitment process to find such a manager is set to be led by a yet-to-be-confirmed sporting director.
Amongst fans, such uncertainty heading into the final week of the league campaign has been a regular topic of conversation. In the Reds' dressing room, however, nobody is looking beyond next weekend's visit of the Potters.
"We can't really have any effect on it," Pring explained when asked about the number of big decisions to be made in BS3. "There's not really been any discussions in the changing room about it.
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"It's exciting," the defender added to Bristol Live. "I'm sure the club have got their ideas lined up and know what they're doing, so it is exciting to see who they bring in, and we'll go from there."
Hodgson arrived at Ashton Gate with the Reds in the midst of a six-match winless run in all competitions. Such a difficult spell of form had seen City exit the FA Cup at the hands of League One's bottom side, Port Vale, and slip to 16th in the Championship, following their defeat to West Brom.
However, with the eight points claimed under the stewardship of the 78-year-old so far, the Robins have moved up to 12th in England's second tier, one point and two places behind Saturday afternoon's opponents, Birmingham City.
Unfortunately, even with that upturn in form, the play-off places remain out of reach for Hodgson's side, leading into the final two games of the term, with 11 points the current margin to the top six.
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Even with both promotion and relegation now off the table, though, Pring feels there is plenty to be gained from finishing the campaign on the front foot.
"I think that was the goal when the gaffer came in," the defender explained. "We didn't really want to go out limping. We wanted to show the fans that we are still a good team.
"It's been a sort of frustrating season, but we want to be as positive as we can going into the last couple of games and going into pre-season. We want a positive mentality."
Asked about the impact such a run-in could have leading into next season, Pring continued, "It has a massive effect. It sort of brings positivity when you turn back up in pre-season, you're all positive because you know that you can beat the best teams or go against the best teams, like Southampton on Tuesday."