Bristol City predicted team vs Millwall: Struber faces dilemma as Knight and Pring push to start
Bristol Live’s predicted Bristol City team to face Millwall at Ashton Gate as Gerhard Struber’s Reds aim for back-to-back league wins
Bristol City and Gerhard Struber are on the hunt for back-to-back league wins(Image: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire)
After a busy spell on the road, Bristol City return to Ashton Gate. Seven days on from their impressive win over Portsmouth at Fratton Park, Gerhard Struber’s boys and the Robins will spend this afternoon in BS3 as they host Millwall in the Championship.
The weekend’s meeting with the Lions comes off the back of a rollercoaster of a return from the November international break for the Reds. A midweek defeat away to Wrexham was sandwiched between wins over Swansea City and Pompey to leave City sitting sixth in England’s second tier after 18 matches.
Struber’s side’s performance on the south coast was one of two faces – as the Austrian would put it. For 30 minutes or so, the Robins were electric in their press and put Mousinho’s side under immense pressure, but for much of the remaining hour, they were the team forced to defend their box.
Today’s opponents, Millwall, had a very different win last time out. Having conceded to Southampton late on, the Lions looked set to share the points with the Saints, until Tristan Crama popped up with a 97th-minute strike to send Alex Neil’s side on their way to a 3-2 win.
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The three points claimed that day have proven to be enough to fire Millwall up to third in the Championship. With just two points and three places separating the Lions and the Robins at the time of writing, Saturday’s contest is expected to be an exciting one for all involved.
Struber’s ranks have been boosted this week by the return of both Harry Cornick and Josh Stokes to first-team training. While this one is expected to come too soon for either player to feature, both Jason Knight and Cam Pring have been involved at the High Performance Centre, with the Reds boss not ruling out the possibility of both players featuring from the off at Ashton Gate.
Having Knight and Pring available for selection certainly boosts the options at Struber’s disposal, but it does leave him with a selection dilemma or two. With that in mind, here is how we think City will start against Millwall this afternoon…
Goalkeeper and defence
As will become clear as we make our way through this predicted team, Gerhard Struber has several difficult decisions to make when naming his Bristol City side to face Millwall this afternoon. However, at this moment in time at least, it feels as though the make-up of the Robins’ backline – and goalkeeper – is one of the more obvious calls.
Barring a surprise injury, which there was no mention of during Wednesday’s pre-match press conference, we expect Radek Vitek to continue between the posts. The Manchester United loanee was excellent once again against Portsmouth, as he has been for so much of the season so far, and will almost certainly start again today, with Max O’Leary likely to remain on the bench.
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Ahead of the 22-year-old, we think Struber will stand by the back three that helped Vitek secure his seventh clean sheet of the campaign at Fratton Park, with George Tanner stationed as the right-sided centre-half, Rob Dickie in the middle and Zak Vyner on the right.
All three defenders were brilliant against John Mousinho’s side, both in and out of possession, particularly Tanner and Dickie. While Vyner’s impact was perhaps slightly less obvious, his range of passing and ability to play out from defence are vital to the way in which Struber wants his side to play, especially at home.
Once again, that will leave Haydon Roberts and Cam Pring to offer an alternative option at the heart of the backline. There may be a temptation to throw Pring back into the fold from the off, but such a call has been made unnecessary by the good form of the current back three, and Struber has made it clear that he doesn’t intend to take unnecessary risks.
Midfield
Now, this is where some of those difficult decisions arise for Gerhard Struber and Bristol City. Fortunately, such dilemmas are now the result of the Robins having plenty of options, rather than not enough, as had been the case earlier in the season.
As we mentioned in the introduction, the City head coach suggested in midweek that both Jason Knight and Cam Pring had shown him enough in training to give him a “really good feeling” that they could start against Millwall. Struber did, however, follow that claim up with the statement: “We will see how we do it on Saturday.”
Because of the boss’ comments, we do feel there is a very real chance Knight may well return to the starting line-up against Millwall, but based on the fact we have been wrong with such a prediction in each of the last three games and Mark Sykes was excellent in midfield against Portsmouth, we’re going to suggest that the skipper may start from the bench.
Jason Knight celebrates his opener in Bristol City’s win over MK Dons(Image: Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Of course, in an ideal world, Knight would be the man to partner Adam Randell – who we expect to keep his place – in the middle of the park. However, Sykes looked a natural in such a role on the south coast, and it wouldn’t do the Reds any harm to keep him in such a position and afford their captain a bit more recovery time.
With the same school of thought, our bet is that Neto Borges will continue from left wing-back. Like Sykes, the Brazilian was brilliant against Pompey and, on the basis of form alone, before fitness is taken into account, doesn’t deserve to lose his place.
If our prediction is correct, that will likely leave Ross McCrorie to continue on the right flank. The Scotsman may not have been quite at his best last weekend, but his inclusion in the starting line-up, as well as Sykes, would also allow Struber to introduce Knight in the second half without needing to rearrange the entire side.
Attack and striker
Perhaps this is where things become a little more straightforward once again. Over the course of the first 18 matches of the Championship season, a fairly consistent front three has emerged at Bristol City and, while rotation is expected over the next month or so, it is hard to see Gerhard Struber making two many changes this afternoon.
Only once this season has the Robins boss not started both Anis Mehmeti and Scott Twine in the league, and that was a decision he was forced into when the latter was ruled out for the Reds’ trip to Wrexham.
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Both players have enjoyed excellent seasons so far and impressed against Portsmouth last time out, so we expect them to keep their places – whether that be as more traditional number 10s or in a deeper midfield role.
It will likely, therefore, be down to Yu Hirakawa to offer an alternative option from the substitutes bench. The Japanese international has looked bright when he has been afforded minutes in recent weeks, but Struber’s own admission, he falls just behind Mehmeti and Twine in the current pecking order.
Should all of what we’ve written so far be correct, it will likely again be a straight shoot-out between Emil Riis and Sinclair Armstrong for who leads the line. Of course, there is a chance the latter could get the nod, but based on the fact that he started all three matches last week, we would assume Riis is more likely to feature from the off.
If the Dane is preferred, a combination of Armstrong, Fally Mayulu, Olly Thomas, and Ephraim Yeboah will likely feature among the substitutes. With games coming thick and fast, Struber may well feel it necessary to manage Riis’ minutes ahead of clashes with Leicester City and Coventry.
Bristol City predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Radek Vitek; George Tanner, Rob Dickie, Zak Vyner; Ross McCrorie, Adam Randell, Mark Sykes, Neto Borges; Scott Twine, Anis Mehmeti; Emil Riis
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