Bristol Cityvs.Derby

Meanwhile, the Rams will be desperate to produce a positive response after losing back-to-back games against Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday.

Match preview

Bristol City are sitting in 10th place and five points adrift of the playoffs after winning eight, drawing 10 and losing seven of their 25 league games this season.

The Robins recently bounced back from a 2-0 away defeat against West Bromwich Albion to record successive home wins over Luton Town and Portsmouth without conceding.

They looked set to claim another win in Wednesday's away clash against basement side Plymouth Argyle, taking the lead on two occasions thanks to efforts from Anis Mehmeti and Jason Knight.

Unfortunately for the Robins, they were denied all three points by Julio Pleguezuelo's stoppage-time equaliser, leaving them without a win in five straight away games.

Having struggled on the road, Bristol City will be looking forward to returning to Ashton Gate, where they have dropped just two points in their last four home matches.

They will be confident about extending their four-game unbeaten home run, having won each of their previous three home matches against Derby.

The Rams head into the weekend on the back of an underwhelming run of form, with their last four matches producing one win and three defeats.

Derby bounced back from a narrow loss against Luton Town with a 2-1 home victory against West Brom, before they fell to a 1-0 defeat in their home meeting with promotion-chasing Leeds United.

Paul Warne's side experienced another disappointing outing on New Year's Day, with goals from Jerry Yates and Ebou Adams proving fruitless in a 4-2 away defeat against Sheffield Wednesday.

As a result of that loss, Derby dropped one position to 17th place in the Championship table, leaving them five points above the bottom three.

The defeat at Hillsborough also extended Derby's winless away run to five matches (D2, L3), suggesting they may have their work cut out to claim their first away win over Bristol City since April 2019.

The Rams will at least take confidence from August's reverse fixture, where goals from Kenzo Goudmijn, Kayden Jackson and David Ozoh secured a 3-0 victory at Pride Park.

Bristol City Championship form:

D

D

L

W

W

D

Derby County Championship form:

D

W

L

W

L

L

Team News

Bristol City boss Liam Manning will be unable to call upon midfielder Joe Williams and forward Sinclair Armstrong due to injury.

Mark Sykes and Kal Naismith are both closing in on a return to action, but it remains to be seen whether Saturday's match will come too soon for the pair.

Left-back Cameron Pring will have to be assessed by the club's medical staff after being forced off in the first half against Plymouth.

As for the visitors, they will have to make a call on Corey Blackett-Taylor and Joe Ward's availability after the pair sat out the defeat to Sheffield Wednesday with groin and knee issues respectively.

Midfielder Ben Osborn is in a race against time to prove his fitness ahead of Saturday's trip to Ashton Gate.

However, the Rams will definitely be without the services of Eiran Cashin, David Ozoh and Ryan Nyambe due to injury.

Bristol City possible starting lineup:

O'Leary; Vyner, Dickie, McNally; McCorie, Knight, Bird, Roberts; Twine, Mehmeti; Bell

Derby County possible starting lineup:

Widell Zetterstrom; Phillips, Nelson, Elder; Wilson, Adams, Thompson, Forsyth; Jackson, Mendez-Laing; Yates

We say: Bristol City 2-0 Derby County

Written by

Ben Sully

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