Tommy Conway is a 21-year-old Scottish striker that has come through the academy at Bristol City and is now an important part of the first team. He’s played out on loan at Bath City in the 20/21 season and has represented and scored for Scotland’s U21 side.
Conway operates mainly as a lone striker and has the physical profile to deal with the role, standing at 1.85m and with an efficient jump he can compete in aerial dual situations. He uses all of his frame to his advantage when holding up the ball, quickly getting his body across, using his arms and shoulders to back into the opposition to make the most of his strength. Impressively Conway has an explosive burst of acceleration and the pace to keep that up over longer distances, he presses from the front with real intensity and often makes charging runs to the opposition keeper to force mistakes.
Conway is aggressive and clever with his movements, often trying to get into the shadow of the closest defender before bursting in behind them unsighted. He attacks the 6-yard box with everything he has, and even the quickest of defenders would struggle to keep up once he has the momentum. He’s aware of the space across the pitch in the final third, will selflessly run the channels and can spot the space left by opposition fullbacks to pull into wider areas. He’s a constant headache for the opposition defence capable of forcing the line back by himself, operating on the shoulder he will actively scan to stay in line with the last defender, arcing his run and can easily exploit high lines with his leggy stride and acceleration.
He already shows signs of being able to create his own space and lose his marker, he’ll fake a run in behind before dropping short, he’ll accelerate towards one post just enough to take his marker before quickly changing direction to free himself, and will score plenty of goal with these types of movements.
Conway is also capable of short but safe hold up play, he’ll want to continue to work on his first touch and close control under physical pressure, a slightly loose touch then has an impact on his pass after and can result in then giving the ball away. Although capable of low driven crosses/ cutbacks when in space in wider areas, he doesn’t get his head up quickly enough when in deeper positions to play passes forward into runners breaking beyond him, which can stunt the momentum of counter attacks with a safe/ slower pass.
Conway shows variation when finishing, is a capable ball striker with low driven efforts into the corner both inside and outside of the box, thumping headed finishes where he uses his jump and acceleration to power the ball into the back of the net as well as technical one touch finishes within the 6-yard box.
Tommy Conway has multiple attributes that will make him a strong number 9 type forward, his work ethic, aggression, finishing ability and awareness of space in and around the box are you just waiting for consistent service. And with only a year left on his contract at the end of the season, it’s no surprise Bristol City are trying to tie him down for the future.
Target Scouting 