Two sides who are separated by 11 places in the league positioning and a rather dull stretch of the M4 go up against each other this weekend and both sides will be hoping to pick up the points for different reasons. The home side have had a disappointing start to the season, with the Robins only managing to pick up five points in the opening seven games. The Royals on the other hand want to bounce back from a ultimately anti-climactic defeat at home to Derby following a fantastic 5-1 mauling of Ipswich on Friday evening last week.
Bristol City
The biggest worry for the home side this week is the fitness of Nathan Baker. He will undergo a late fitness test following a slight back injury when his side faced Preston in the week. Elsewhere Wes Burns will return to the match day squad, although it is likely that any involvement from him will be from the substitutes bench. Ten goals conceded in the last four home games however is a rather disappointing run of form, however manager Steve Cotterill has no worries about his side, and in the week talked to the press and said that the current form will not determine the rest of the campaign. “This hardship that we’re going through at this moment in time will probably make us stronger as a group and the results will come” he told BBC Radio Bristol.
Reading
The visitors will be without Orlando Sa for this clash, with the Portugese striker who was the hero last weekend with a hat-trick against Ipswich suspended after a red against Derby. Anton Ferdinand could be in line for a return, and exciting summer signing Paolo Hurtado could be in line for his debut for the Royals this weekend. Although he struggled to make an instant impact with supporters, newly rejuvenated Nick Blackman could partner Matej Vydra, who’s still chasing his first goal for his new club. Steve Clarke has backed his side to get back to winning ways, telling BBC Sport he believed that “Good teams will lose games at times this season – it’s important that we start up another run, starting at Bristol City on Saturday.”
I personally believe that the strength in depth of the visitors may be enough to take the three points back to Berkshire. However, a passionate home crowd and a team fighting for points already is a volatile mix, and we could see a hotly contested encounter at Ashton Gate this weekend. Keep an eye on this one, it could be a good’un.
