Brian De Keersmaecker state of play with loanee 'growing into' squad

After joining the Reds on an initial loan deal on the final day of the summer transfer window, De Keersmaecker had to wait until last month's trip to Charlton Athletic to make his City debut, having seen his pre-season at the Kassam Stadium disrupted by injury.

The midfielder missed the final 17 games of Oxford's 2025/26 campaign, as the U's were relegated from the Championship with a shoulder injury. The effects of that same issue ensured the Belgian didn't feature for Aaron Ramsey's side in pre-season or the first few League One matches.

Now, though, having built his fitness in training and through minutes with City's Under-21s, De Keersmaecker has been a part of each of the Robins' last five matchday squads, including a start in the weekend's win over Bolton Wanderers.

Though Skubala feels his most recent signing still isn't quite "perfect" in terms of his sharpness, he's been happy with what he's seen from the 26-year-old so far.

"Technically, he's a very good player," the City manager told Bristol Live when asked about the midfielder during Monday's pre-match press conference. "We've seen that.

"On the ball, he's very good, and his movement is very good off the ball. He can see a pass, and again, he's in there with the competition, with the midfielders. He can play as a six, he can play as an eight, and he's different.

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"Again, he's a different profile, to me, from Joe [Williams], [Adam] Randell, and [Jason] Knighty when he plays in there. We've got lots of different profiles to do different things, but Brian's definitely growing into the squad, and I think you'll see more of him as we go."

When questioned on where the Belgian was in terms of fitness, after his disrupted summer, Skubala added, "He's nearly there. I wouldn't say he's perfect. I would say he's still a little bit behind some of us for that little bit of sharpness, but that's probably the game time that he needs.

"He's in that place now where he's competing for game time with everybody else, so he has to get that sharpness from training, and when he gets the opportunities, as he did at Bolton, he has to show his qualities and what he can bring to the team."

De Keermsaecker's next opportunity could come on Wednesday evening, when the Robins welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to Ashton Gate for their penultimate game before the November international break.

Having been relegated from the Premier League last term, Cesar Peixoto's side currently sit third in England's second tier, four places behind league-leaders Middlesbrough, having seven of their opening 13 Championship matches this season.

On paper, the visitors will come into this one as favourites in the eyes of most, given the two clubs' respective league positions. Such a fact excited Skubala, however, with Wednesday's meeting with one of the division's promotion favourites a chance to assess where City are in their own development.

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"For me, they're one of the top three teams," he explained. "From what I've seen from the data, from the stats, from watching them play quite a bit, West Ham, Middlesbrough and them for me are very, very strong teams in this division, but that's what we enjoy.

"We want to go up against the best, the players want to go up against the best, and I'm sure the fans want to see Wolverhampton Wanderers - who have just come down from the Premier League - to see the level. You look at their team and loads of them have played in the Premier League.

"I know they've got relegated, of course, and they want to get back there - like Burnley, like West Ham - but these players are top, top players and we want to pitch ourselves against the best and see where we're at, at this moment."