They say there’s no rest for the wicked and just a couple of days after their draw with Sheffield Wednesday, Bristol City are back in action today as they face Blackburn Rovers at Ashton Gate.
Liam Manning’s Robins welcome John Eustace’s side to the West Country as they look to end a three-match winless run in all competitions. City haven’t lost at home in the Championship since November but tasted defeat in the FA Cup against Wolves in their last outing in BS3.
After a strong start to the season, Rovers have had a slight dip in form and have lost each of their last two matches. Their midweek clash saw them welcome Coventry City to Ewood Park on Tuesday evening and they were beaten 2-0 by Frank Lampard’s Sky Blues however, they still occupy the final play-off spot and sit four points clear of the Reds.
The quick turnaround between games means that Manning will have some big decisions to make when naming his squad on Saturday afternoon. The Robins will be boosted by the return of Marcus McGuane who is back in contention following a concussion and now appear to have an almost fully fit first-team squad.
This will be City’s third game in eight days but having dropped points in each of their last two matches the Reds head coach will be desperate to secure a win, rather than use this match as an opportunity to rest and rotate his squad.
With that in mind, here’s how we think Bristol City will start against Blackburn Rovers at Ashton Gate this afternoon…
Goalkeeper and defence
Though City conceded twice at Hillsborough on Wednesday evening, it would be wrong to suggest either goal was Max O’Leary’s fault. Regardless of your stance on the Reds’ stopper, he will almost certainly continue between the posts this afternoon.
Ahead of him, there have been some calls from fans for the Robins to revert to a back four, the system they used at the start of the season. While that is understandable given the recent wobble, the back three has served Manning’s side well at home so we expect him to stand by it.
Luke McNally has been arguably City’s best player in recent months and is likely to start on the left of the three. Rob Dickie has been basically an ever-present when fit and will remain in the middle of the backline this afternoon. Although Zak Vyner didn’t have his best of evenings against Wednesday, our bet is that he will continue on the right having played every minute of Championship football possible this season.
Kal Naismith will offer the defensive cover required on the bench. The Scotsman is yet to feature following his return from injury earlier this month and will likely only be introduced in the event of one of the back three picking up a knock.
Midfield
Trying to second guess what Manning will do with the wing-backs against Blackburn is where predicting this team becomes rather difficult. If there had been a bigger gap between games, we would be pretty confident that both Ross McCrorie and Mark Sykes would keep their place having been involved in the Robins’ goals at Hillsborough. However, the short recovery time could be an issue, especially when considering both players have only recently recovered from injury.
Even with that in mind, our bet is that the Bristol City boss will start both players again. McCrorie is now in a position where he is able to start back-to-back games and Sykes’ impact in an attacking sense against Wednesday was too important to ignore. Of course, we could be wrong and it wouldn’t be a total surprise if George Tanner and Haydon Roberts started instead.
Between the two wings backs, Jason Knight and Max Bird are expected to continue as the Reds’ midfield pairing. Neither player had their best of games against the Owls last time out, but they have formed a really solid partnership in the middle of the park and it would be a surprise if that were disrupted.
With both Joe Williams and McGuane fit again, Manning will have plenty of depth waiting on the bench should either player need a rest after another busy phase of the season.
Attack and striker
Manning opted to change things up in attacking midfield at Hillsborough, with Yu Hirakawa partnering Scott Twine in the more advanced position. Though the Japanese forward showed some glimpses of his quality, he wasn’t able to have a major impact on proceedings in that more central role and we therefore expect him to return to the bench against Rovers.
In his place, either Anis Mehmeti or George Earthy could be given a start, but our bet is that the former will get the nod. The Albanian international is still City’s top scorer this season and with a bit of a rest under his belt, he will be looking to add to his tally for the season against Eustace’s side in BS3.
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Alongside him, we believe Twine will keep his place. Yes, the former Burnley man was quiet against both Coventry and Wednesday but he is an integral part of Manning’s system. His last game in front of the home crowd, against Wolves, at Ashton Gate was excellent and a slight dip in form shouldn’t overshadow what has been his best spell in a Bristol City shirt recently.
When it comes to leading the line, it is hard to look past Nahki Wells at this stage. It is a slight risk starting the 34-year-old three times in such quick succession, but his minutes have been managed in recent weeks to ensure that he can do exactly that. Having found the net for the first time since November against Wednesday, he will be full of confidence against Blackburn.
Of course, Sam Bell and Sinclair Armstrong could lead the line instead. Armstrong has featured in the last two matchday squads having recovered from injury and Bell came close to opening his account for the season late on in South Yorkshire on Wednesday.
Whether or not Fally Mayulu will even be included in the squad is as yet unclear. The Frenchman has missed both of the Robins’ last two games and has been the subject of transfer speculation in recent days.
Bristol City XI (3-4-2-1): Max O’Leary; Luke McNally, Rob Dickie, Zak Vyner; Ross McCrorie, Jason Knight, Max Bird, Mark Sykes; Anis Mehmeti, Scott Twine; Nahki Wells