Gerhard Struber shares Rob Atkinson update as Bristol City's unbeaten start ends against Oxford | Bristol Live

Rob Atkinson was forced off early in the first half of Bristol City's 3-1 defeat to Oxford United at Ashton Gate on Sunday

Rob Atkinson will undergo a scan on a knee injury on Monday, Gerhard Struber has confirmed, after the Bristol City defender was forced off early in the Robins’ defeat to Oxford United at Ashton Gate.

The Reds’ unbeaten start to the new Championship season was brought to an end at the hands of the U’s on Sunday afternoon, as goals from Nik Prelec, Przemyslaw Placheta and Gregory Leigh ensured Anis Mehmeti’s fourth of the campaign was little more than a consolation in a 3-1 defeat.

With just 15 minutes played and the scores level, the Robins had to make an early change after Atkinson had gone to ground in the Oxford penalty area. The defender was replaced by George Tanner and made his way straight down the tunnel without attempting to play on.

Although it is too early for the severity of the issue to be known, Struber has confirmed it was a knee injury, which the Robins will assess in the coming days ahead of next weekend's trip to Preston North End.

“We don’t know exactly right now,” the head coach explained when asked about the nature of the defender’s injury. “It’s something on the knee.

“It was a little bit of an over-stretch moment, and we have to look deeper tomorrow with a scan.

“I think we could see how important he was for us,” Struber continued on the impact Atkinson’s early exit had on the game. “Especially with his aerial duel power, and also in set-piece moments, he has, in this direction, a different profile that would help us.

“Especially today, when the opposition plays so direct and with so much power, then it’s important that we players that have the body to help, but also the aerial duel strength. We miss him, we lose a little bit of momentum.”

After a competitive opening 19 minutes, Oxford pulled into the lead when Prelec got the jump on City's backline to head a whipped free-kick past Radek Vitek and into the back of the net. The away side then doubled their advantage on the stroke of half-time when Placheta fired a shot into the top right corner from the edge of the box after controlling Jason Knight's clearance from a corner.

The Robins threatened a comeback when Mehmeti halved the deficit with just nine minutes of the second half played. The 24-year-old smashed into the back of the net via the underside of the crossbar from outside the box to lift the mood inside BS3, but Struber's side were unable to find that all-important leveller.

With time running out, Brian De Keersmaecker ensured all three points would be heading back to the Kassam Stadium when his curled free-kick found the bottom corner courtesy of the slightest touch from Leigh.

Throughout the contest, the Reds struggled to deal with Oxford's physical threat, particularly from corners and throw-ins, something which left the City head coach particularly frustrated in his post-match press conference.

“I think we could see that we were not super ready in set-piece moments today,” Struber explained. “All three goals that we concede are set-piece moments with not the right attention, not the right behavior.

“Of course, they have power in this way, but how we do it in this moment, I would say, it was not our normal standard. Until this game, we were really good in set-pieces; how we defend against the opponents, but today we were not on a really good level, and it makes the difference today.”