Preview: Huddersfield Town vs. Bristol City - prediction, team news, lineups

At a time when the Terriers have moved four points clear of the Championship relegation zone, Bristol City have recently dropped down to 14th position in the standings.

Match preview

Having conceded a late goal to be held 1-1 at Swansea City, Darren Moore cannot be feeling overly positive heading into Huddersfield's next game.

However, five points have been accumulated from three fixtures on the back of requiring a six-match period to collect the same amount of points.

As a result, the Yorkshire side are now back to within three points of 15th-placed Birmingham City ahead of back-to-back fixtures at the John Smith's Stadium.

On the flip side, though, Huddersfield are coming under pressure from the chasing pack in the bottom three, in particular Queens Park Rangers who now no longer feel cut adrift.

In the grand scheme of things, the Huddersfield hierarchy will feel that they are making progress under Moore, but this remains a team that has won just twice in 13 league outings.

As far as Bristol City are concerned, Liam Manning - another new Championship manager at the helm - will be disappointed that momentum has been lost in recent outings.

After three matches unbeaten under interim management and himself, the Robins have since suffered consecutive defeats to Southampton and Norwich City respectively.

Succumbing to the Canaries last Sunday would have hurt with Bristol City letting slip a half-time lead to ultimately lose to a 90th-minute goal.

With Bristol City now sitting five points adrift of the playoffs and in the bottom half of the table, they are in increasingly desperate need of a response to avoid losing touch with the top six.

Improving away from home needs to be their focus, Bristol City scoring just seven times and suffering four defeats in their nine fixtures on their travels.

Huddersfield Town Championship form:

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Bristol City Championship form:

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Team News

With Sorba Thomas serving a one-match ban, Delano Burgzorg appears likely to return to the Huddersfield XI.

Josh Koroma could also be restored in the final third if Danny Ward drops back down to the substitutes' bench.

Given the extent of Huddersfield's injury list, Moore may opt against making any further changes.

Bristol City boss Manning must decide whether to revert back to a back four over a back three, but it is plausible that he may opt for the latter to mirror Huddersfield's tactics.

Sam Bell is pushing for a recall, either at right wing-back to replace George Tanner or in the final third ahead of Andreas Weimann.

Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:

Maxwell; Jackson, Pearson, Helik, Lees, Nakayama; Koroma, Hogg, Kasumu, Headley; Burgzorg

Bristol City possible starting lineup:

O'Leary; Vyner, Dickie, Pring; Tanner, James, Gardner-Hickman, Sykes; Bell, Conway, Knight

We say: Huddersfield Town 1-1 Bristol City

With the chasing pack building a head of steam, Huddersfield know that they have to keep things ticking over to remain outside of the bottom three. On this occasion, though, a share of the spoils may materialise with Bristol City eager to get back on track under Manning.

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