Liam Manning has confessed Bristol City will have to be at their “very best” to beat Hull City, who have been through a “transition” since the clubs last met on the opening day of the Championship season.
The Tigers, who make the trip to Ashton Gate on Saturday afternoon, currently sit 19th in the Championship, five points clear of Luton Town who occupy the final spot in the relegation zone after a difficult first two-thirds of the campaign.
Having come close to the play-offs last term, Hull opted to part ways with Liam Rosenior and appointed Tim Walter as his successor. The German’s spell at the MKM Stadium only lasted 17 Championship matches and he was sacked and replaced by then Reading boss, Ruben Selles with the Tigers languishing in the relegation zone.
Under the management of Selles, Saturday’s visitors have shown signs of improvement and begun to put a gap between themselves and the foot of the table with wins over Plymouth Argyle and Sunderland in recent weeks. Although the current standings would suggest that City are favourites heading into this weekend’s clash, Manning is by no means underestimating the Tigers.
“Like any game, you’ve seen they beat Sunderland away, I think it’s a really tough team to play against,” the head coach told Bristol Live ahead of Saturday afternoon’s clash. “I think the margins are so fine at this level.
“They’ve had a bit of transition probably, they’ve made quite a few changes to the squad and to the staff etc but I think they’ve got some really good players. I think that when you look at the level and, like I said, it being so tight, we have to be at our very best on Saturday to perform like we can and then also get the win.”
City come into the weekend’s contest following back-to-back wins against Middlesbrough and Millwall, where they managed to end a run of nine matches away from Ashton Gate without a win and cut the gap to the top-six.
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While it hasn’t been plain sailing for Manning’s side on the road this term, their form in BS3 has been excellent. Only five teams in the Championship have picked up more points than the Reds at home this term and they have only lost one of their last nine league matches on their own patch.
Although Hull will be keen to cause an upset and pull further away from the bottom three on Saturday afternoon, a win could be enough for City to climb as high as fifth in the table, if results elsewhere in the Championship go their way. Sixth-placed West Brom welcome QPR to The Hawthorns this weekend while Frank Lampard and Coventry City face Stoke City at the CBS Arena in the early kick-off.
When these two sides met at the MKM Stadium on the opening day of the season, the points were shared in a 1-1 draw. The Robins took the lead in the second half when Fally Mayulu found the net with an impressive debut goal, but a late penalty from Oscar Estupinan ensured Manning’s side didn’t start the new campaign with all three points. City will be hoping they can go one better this time around.