After an 11th-placed finish in the 2023-24 Championship season, ending up 11 points behind Norwich City in the lowest of the playoff positions, Bristol City are on a mission to genuinely compete in the upper echelons of the second tier this time around under the leadership of Liam Manning.
The Robins have enjoyed an unbeaten start to life in the league so far this August, with a second-half strike from summer arrival Fally Mayulu rescuing a share of the points at Hull City’s MKM Stadium on August 10, before Saturday’s hosts sealed their maiden victory of the term last weekend.
Frenchman Mayulu came off the bench to make the net ripple once again, this time against Neil Harris‘s Millwall side at Ashton Gate, where further strikes from Anis Mehmeti, former Queens Park Rangers man Sinclair Armstrong and Scott Twine resulted in a 4-3 win over the visiting Lions.
Despite their unbeaten start in the Championship this campaign, the Robins have suffered defeat in a competitive fixture, losing 1-0 at home to this weekend’s visitors Coventry in the first round of the EFL Cup on August 13, when Ellis Simms‘s second-half effort proved to be the only decisive moment.
Looking to return to the riches and glamour of the Premier League following a multi-decade absence, Coventry City have endured a mixed start to their 2024-25 Championship term, firstly losing to Midlands rivals Stoke City at the bet365 Stadium on the opening weekend of the season.
After failing to find the net at the Potters’ Staffordshire home, the Sky Blues returned to their prolific ways last Friday night, when a brilliant brace from Haji Wright and a strike from right-back Milan van Ewijk secured a 3-2 victory over newly-promoted Oxford United at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Coventry will host Des Buckingham‘s U’s for the second time in the space of a fortnight courtesy of their meeting in the next stage of the EFL Cup on August 27, but before that Mark Robins‘s troops will aim to get the better of Bristol City at Ashton Gate for the second time this month.
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Looking to fight the likes of Simms and Wright for a spot in the Sky Blues’ front three, Brandon Thomas-Asante moved across second-tier battlelines from West Bromwich Albion over the summer, with the former Salford City man hoping to become a fans’ favourites at the CBS Arena, as he was at The Hawthorns.
Signing on loan from J1 League title contenders Machida Zelvia, Yu Hirakawa is yet to make his competitive debut for Bristol City due to an ankle injury.
Whilst the Japanese midfielder is targeting a return to action in September, Ross McCrorie and Rob Atkinson are also enduring spells on the sidelines.
A key part of the Coventry midfield over recent years, Ben Sheaf is currently in the visitors’ medical room, fighting back from a leg issue
