Bristol Cityvs.Sheff Weds

The visitors ended a five-match winless streak at home to West Bromwich Albion at the weekend, while their hosts took a point from a draw with Swansea City on Sunday.

Match preview

Bristol City will bid to get back to winning ways in the Championship on Wednesday and kickstart a climb up the table, having shown signs of improvement in recent weeks after a disappointing start.

In their first full campaign under the management of Liam Manning, they collected just five points from their first five outings, culminating in back-to-back 3-0 away defeats to Derby County and Blackburn Rovers either side of the September international break.

Oxford United then visited Ashton Gate, and Manning was able to inspire a crucial return to winning ways against his former side, as Sinclair Armstrong and Nakhi Wells turned the game on its head in the second half and sealed a 2-1 victory.

Aiming to make it back-to-back three-point hauls for the first time this season, the Robins most recently visited Swansea City on Sunday, and they were, at least, able to leave with a share of the spoils having trailed 1-0 until the final 15 minutes, as Jason Knight headed in a leveller.

Still yet to put a convincing run together this term, but with encouragement to take from their recent comebacks, Bristol City will now bid to build on that platform and put an unbeaten streak together to climb the Championship table, starting with a third win of the campaign on Wednesday.

Their visitors, meanwhile, make the trip to South Wales in search of back-to-back league wins for the first time this term, having put an end to a tough run at the weekend.

After making a perfect start to their first full season under the management of Danny Rohl with a 4-0 beating of Plymouth Argyle at Hillsborough, Sheffield Wednesday headed into the September international break on the back of three straight defeats in the Championship without scoring another goal.

That winless streak was then extended to five second-tier outings on their return in September, being held to a draw in agonising fashion at home to Queens Park Rangers and succumbing to a 2-1 defeat away at Luton Town, despite leading until the final 15 minutes, ahead of another tough test at home to league leaders West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

The Owls took a two-goal lead in that contest through Josh Windass and a Darnell Furlong own goal, but they again looked to have squandered a lead as Josh Maja and Alex Mowatt drew the visitors level in the second half, only for Anthony Musaba to restore their lead four minutes from time to seal a second three-point haul of the season.

Having restored a degree of confidence with an impressive victory over the early leaders, Sheffield Wednesday, now sitting 18th after seven Championship outings, will bid to further climb the table with another victory on Wednesday.

Bristol City Championship form:

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Sheffield Wednesday Championship form:

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Sheffield Wednesday form (all competitions):

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Team News

Facing a quick turnaround from Sunday's draw with Swansea City, Liam Manning may opt to make several changes to his Bristol City starting XI on Wednesday to ensure freshness, although he is still unable to call on Rob Dickie, Rob Atkinson, Ross McCrorie, Ayman Benarous and Sam Bell, all of whom are sidelined by injuries.

In the ongoing absence of Atkinson and Dickie, Zak Vyner and Luke McNally should continue their centre-back pairing despite competition from Kal Naismith, while Cameron Pring may come in for Haydon Roberts on the left-hand side of the back four.

Joe Williams will hope to come into the midfield in place of Max Bird alongside captain Jason Knight, while Nakhi Wells, Fally Mayulu and Mark Sykes will compete to start in the attacking unit after Anis Mehmeti, Yu Hirakawa and Scott Twine lined up in support of Sinclair Armstrong at the weekend.

Danny Rohl should avoid making many changes to the Sheffield Wednesday side that beat West Bromwich Albion 3-2 on Saturday, although Anthony Musaba does have a claim to return to the attack from the start after netting the winning goal off the bench in that game.

He should displace Olaf Kobacki in a front three, while key defender Di'Shon Bernard will return to the defence after serving a suspension at the weekend, with Dominic Iorfa likely continuing to miss out through injury.

Bernard will likely rejoin Liam Palmer and Akin Famewo in a back three, while Shea Charles has impressed alongside captain Barry Bannan in the engine room since arriving on loan from Southampton in August.

Bristol City possible starting lineup:

O'Leary; Tanner, Vyner, McNally, Pring; Williams, Knight; Sykes, Twine, Mehmeti; Armstrong

Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:

Beadle; Palmer, Bernard, Famewo; Valery, Charles, Bannan, Johnson; Windass, Ugbo, Musaba

We say: Bristol City 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday

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