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Dom Ballard's first Bristol City steps assessed as newfound depth presents different 'challenge' Dom Ballard made his first appearance as a Bristol City player, following his arrival from Leyton Orient, off the bench against Walsall Bristol City fans got to see Dom Ballard's "quality" during his cameo against Walsall, in the view of Michael Skubala, with the Reds boss offering his assessment of the forward's debut whilst explaining the challenge posed by the newfound depth. Less than 48 hours after he arrived at Ashton Gate, Ballard was introduced as a substitute as the Robins were beaten 1-0 by the Saddlers on Wednesday evening. Aaron Pressley's second-half strike proved enough to knock City out of the Carabao Cup in the first round. The Walsall striker scored what proved to be the winner within just two minutes of the restart. Having been picked out in the Reds' box by a Reece Smith cross from the left flank, the 24-year-old turned beyond Sam Tickle and into the top right corner from close range. Ballard entered the fray a little over 10 minutes after the Robins had fallen behind. While he wasn't able to help Skubala's side turn the tide, he caught the eye with a couple of smart touches, impressing his new boss, who is pleased to have further strengthened his frontline. "I think today you see his quality as well," the Reds manager told Bristol Live when asked about the striker in his post-match press conference. "I thought he was good when he came onto the pitch. "He looked a threat, and his touches were good. What I really like about him is that his movement is really sharp. He's brave, and he'll bump players; he's not the biggest, but he'll make it hard for people. "He's clever with his work, so it is really good [to have him in the building]. Again, he's been in a few days, and we've put him in there, so the chemistry between the strikers and the wide players has still got to come, but only time will improve it." Confirmation of Ballard's switch to south Bristol on Tuesday came a little over a fortnight after the Robins announced the signing of Plymouth Argyle centre-forward Lorent Tolaj. The Swiss-born striker, like Ballard, has put pen to paper on a four-year deal at Ashton Gate and has been handed City's number nine shirt for the upcoming campaign. With Emil Riis sidelined by injury throughout pre-season, Tolaj had - until Thursday - been deployed as a solo forward by Skubala. That changed against the Saddlers, however. Though the 24-year-old led the line on his own for the opening hour, he was joined by Ballard at the top end of the pitch when the ex-Leyton Orient man replaced Adam Randell. With 20 minutes to play, Riis returned from his "niggle" and was introduced in place of Tolaj. Whether or not Skubala will adapt what has been a fairly consistent 4-2-3-1 formation throughout pre-season to accommodate two of his three available frontmen has been a topic of debate amongst fans in recent days. Though the City boss didn't have a definite answer, such a tweak wasn't ruled out. Asked if he was happy to utilise a strike partnership after what he'd seen against Walsall, Skubala replied, "When we're 1-0 down, you may as well put two strikers on, right? Part of it is the game context. "Another part of it, of course, is [that] I need to look at that, because we've brought two top strikers in and we have Emi as well. We're in a good place with that now, and we've got depth. It feels like we've got depth in all - if not most - positions. "But that's part of the challenge, the cohesion, and the depth, growing together." Ballard, Tolaj, Riis and the rest of their City teammates now have more than a week to continue to develop that cohesion ahead of the start of the Championship campaign. The Robins get their league season underway on Saturday, August 15, when they host Alex Neil's Millwall, who were beaten by Hull City in the play-offs last term, at Ashton Gate. Matches against Birmingham City, Portsmouth, Preston North End, Burnley, Lincoln City, Southampton and Watford then follow ahead of the first international break.