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Why Tomi Horvat wasn't in Bristol City squad for Millwall loss as Cam Pring injury update issued Tomi Horvat and Cam Pring were not part of the Bristol City squad beaten by Millwall in the first league game of the season Tomi Horvat's omission from Bristol City's matchday squad to face Millwall was a "tactical" and "selection" decision, Michael Skubala has confirmed, whilst also providing an update on Cam Pring's injury. For the second straight game, Horvat was not a part of the side picked to face the Lions on Saturday, as the Reds started their league campaign on a disappointing note. A Josh Coburn brace saw the visitors run out 2-0 winners and claim all three points at Ashton Gate. The former Bristol Rovers loanee opened the scoring from close range late in the first half, mere minutes after City had been reduced to 10 players, when Adam Randell was shown a second yellow card. Shortly after the interval, the Millwall striker had headed home a second to wrap up the points. Naturally, the performance and result saw some fans question the Reds' approach, with much of that attention directed to the absence of Horvat from the starting line-up and bench. As was the case against Walsall last week, the 27-year-old was fit for selection, but the greater depth now present in south Bristol meant that he was the player to miss out. "It's a tactical one; it's a selection one," Skubala told Bristol Live when asked about Horvat's absence. "I think that's what the group's probably not felt or not had for a while: the competition. "When you're leaving a very good player like Tomi Horvat out of the team, or out of the squad, should I say, it shows you the depth we've got and shows you how players need to perform, because Tomi Horvat is chomping at the bit to get into the squad. "There will be players that are chomping at the bit to get into the starting line-up, as well." Rob Atkinson was one of those players waiting for his opportunity against Walsall last week. His chance came against Millwall, though, in part because Lisav Eissat's services were required on the left side of defence, as Pring had been ruled out by an injury. The Reds academy graduate had been an ever-present over the course of pre-season, having missed the end of last term with an ankle issue. While he impressed in the Carabao Cup defeat to Walsall, his display seemingly came at a cost as Skubala told City's media team ahead of kick-off that the defender had "felt something" after the meeting with the Saddlers. Asked about the extent of that issue after Saturday's loss, the Robins manager added, "Not months, maybe more like weeks. Yeah, again, we don't want to do any more serious damage to it, so we'll see if he's available for next week, or it might be the week after. "He felt it two days after the Walsall game." Understandably, after Randell's early exit from the field, Skubala opted to tinker with his squad during the break against the Lions. Yu Hirakawa was the player withdrawn, with the Japanese international making way for Joe Williams to enter the fray. Confirmation of that change was met with some disappointment from the home crowd, who had been impressed by what they had seen from the winger on his first City start since November of last year. It was, however, an alteration that needed to be made to protect Hirakawa. "I thought he was doing well, but I wanted to keep two nines on the pitch, " Skubala said. "You know that he's probably got another five or 10 minutes in his legs, because you've got to remember it's not 60 minutes with 11 men, is it? It's probably 45 minutes with 10 men, which is very different. "In the end, I didn't want to lose players through pushing them with 10 men. I knew I had to make a change, so that was more of a tactical tweak. I knew I had to make the change to look after them for the future."