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Tomi Horvat and Sam Bell's absences explained as Bristol City take opportunity in Walsall defeat Tomi Horvat and Sam Bell were not a part of the Bristol City side that was beaten by Walsall in the Carabao Cup Michael Skubala has explained Tomi Horvat and Sam Bell's absence from Bristol City's matchday squad for their defeat to Walsall, revealing that the pair sat out because he "needed" to see Yu Hirakawa and Emil Riis in action. Neither Horvat nor Bell were part of the side picked to face the Saddlers on Thursday night, as the Robins started their season on a disappointing note, losing 1-0 to the League Two outfit to exit the Carabao Cup at the earliest possible stage. Aaron Pressley's strike from close range early in the second half proved to be enough for Lee Grant's side to book their place in the second round at Ashton Gate. While City huffed and puffed having fallen behind, they were unable to get the better of Jed Ward and carve out a leveller. While it was a frustrating night for those of a red-and-white persuasion in BS3, the mood was boosted by the return of Hirakawa and Riis from injury. Both players sat out all of City's seven friendly fixtures this summer with what Skubala described as niggles. The pair were deemed fit to feature from the bench against Walsall, however. In order to get a good look at them before the start of the Championship season, they were named amongst the substitutes at the expense of Horvat and Bell - a decision Skubala wouldn't have taken in a league game. "No, it's absolutely fine," the manager replied when asked by Bristol Live if Horvat or Bell missed out through injury. "I needed to use this game to see Emil and Yu. "If I didn't see them in this game - and I had the opportunity to see them - I wouldn't have seen them in a match through the whole of pre-season. "They've [Horvat and Bell] been great, and they've trained well, but I just needed to use the bench to see them. Of course, that's not a normal thing, and you wouldn't do that in a normal league game. "But I had to use this game to see Yu and Emil." Riis was introduced in place of Lorent Tolaj with a little over 20 minutes left to play on Wednesday evening. The Dane partnered new signing Dom Ballard at the top end of the pitch, but was unable to leave his mark on proceedings from the bench. Hirakawa, on the other hand, caught the eye in his cameo. Making his first City appearance since January, having spent the second half of last season on loan at Hull City, the Japanese international was a bright spark, carving out a handful of scoring opportunities and causing the Saddlers plenty of problems from the right flank. Although it didn't prove to be enough for the Robins to pull level or book their place in the second round, Hirakawa's display on his return to Ashton Gate impressed his new manager, with the 25-year-old's performance one of the positives picked out by Skubala after the full-time whistle. "Seeing Yu for the first time - I've not seen him play all pre-season - so [we're] using this game a little bit to see Yu and Emi," Skubala explained. "He did very well, so seeing Yu for the first time was excellent. "I thought he did very well in that high right area, and at times, I thought we had some good little patterns. "We created a couple of chances in the first half that we didn't put away, and I thought Sam Tickle made a couple of big saves in transition." Who will make the cut for next weekend's Championship curtain-raiser against Millwall is, at this stage, unclear. The Reds are set to get their league campaign underway next Saturday when they welcome Alex Neil's Lions to south Bristol. As was the case against Walsall on Thursday evening, Skubala will be able to name a nine-player bench alongside his starting line-up. Only time will tell if Hirakawa and Riis did enough on Thursday night to pip Horvat and Bell to a place once more.