By Roy Hodgson’s own admission, his start to life as interim Bristol City boss has exceeded expectations. Two wins from two games have made for pretty impressive reading, but what’s come before means very little as the Robins travel to QPR this weekend.
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The Reds’ trip to Loftus Road comes just five days after City capped off what proved to be a perfect Easter weekend in an impressive fashion by getting the better of Sheffield United in front of the Ashton Gate crowd.
Fresh off the back of their Good Friday win away to Charlton Athletic, the Robins secured consecutive victories for the first time since Christmas and ended a more than two-month wait for a home win, with Mark Sykes’ first-half goal enough to beat the Blades 1-0 and climb to 11th in the Championship.
For Saturday afternoon’s opponents, Easter was positive, if not quite faultless. QPR returned from the international break with a 2-1 win over Watford at Loftus Road before travelling to Deepdale to face Preston North End on Monday afternoon.
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It had seemed as though Brad Potts’ strike just a minute into the second half would be enough to condemn Julien Stéphan’s side to a first defeat in four games, until Thierry Small inadvertently skewed a clearance into his own net to ensure the points would be shared in a 1-1 draw.
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The Hoops’ stalemate in Lancashire means that only goal difference splits the Robins and QPR in the Championship table, at the time of writing. While there may not be an awful lot on the line beyond the three points up for grabs, this has the makings of an exciting contest.
City’s hopes of coming away with a third straight win – something they’ve managed just once this term – are likely to have been boosted by the return of Ross McCrorie, who is in contention once again. The Scotsman could potentially be joined by Rob Dickie, George Tanner and Joe Williams, with all three longer-term absentees back in training this week.
Whether or not any of that returning trio will be ready to be thrust straight back into the fold in the capital, only time will tell. In the meantime, here is how we think Hodgson will set his side up against QPR…
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Goalkeeper and defence
There have perhaps been few Bristol City players who have made as good a first impression under the management of Roy Hodgson in the last fortnight as Radek Vitek. Against both Charlton Athletic and Sheffield United, the Manchester United loanee produced inspired displays.
When fit, the 22-year-old has been the first name on the team sheet throughout the entirety of the season. That is unlikely to have changed since the visit of the Blades on Easter Monday, and as a result, we expect Vitek to keep his place between the posts with Lewis Thomas likely to feature on the bench, if Joe Lumley is once again not part of the matchday squad.
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Ahead of the Czech stopper, the make-up of the Robins’ backline will likely be determined by whether or not Hodgson and his coaching staff are willing to take a risk and gamble on the fitness of either George Tanner or Rob Dickie.
Though the interim boss suggested both defenders could be thrust back in sooner than initially planned in his pre-match press conference, he almost appeared to caveat himself in his next answer. With that in mind, we think that – at best – Tanner and Dickie will start on the bench.
Our bet is that it will once again be Noah Eile and Neto Borges who start at centre-back, with Cam Pring likely to retain his place at left-back. On the right, we’re backing Ross McCrorie to return to the fold after missing Monday’s clash with Chris Wilder’s side through injury.
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Midfield
Should Ross McCrorie be fit and able to start at right-back for Bristol City at Loftus Road on Saturday lunchtime, as suggested, the Scotsman’s availability should free Jason Knight up to return to a more natural midfield role.
While the Reds skipper performed well out of position against the Blades, Roy Hodgson will likely be keen for him to return to the middle of the park sooner rather than later.
Of course, the impressive displays of both Adam Randell and Sam Morsy against Sheffield United may mean that the 78-year-old opts for an ‘if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it’ approach. However, we think it is more likely that Morsy will drop out of the starting line-up to accommodate McCrorie’s return and Knight’s shift in position.
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Bristol City captain Jason Knight celebrates after the Robins’ win over Charlton Athletic -Credit:Ben Whitley/PA Wire
On either side of that midfield partnership, our prediction is that both Mark Sykes and Max Bird will retain their places on the right and left flank, respectively, meaning Tomi Horvat will likely be made to continue to wait to make his first start under Hodgson.
Bird and Sykes have both impressed since the interim head coach arrived at Ashton Gate, and while their workload has been rather heavy over the course of the last week or so, they feel too influential to be left out. Perhaps the only caveat could be if Hodgson and the coaching staff around him at the HPC feel Bird’s minutes need to be managed after such an injury-disrupted campaign.
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Should our guess be correct, it will be down to Morsy, Horvat, George Earthy and potentially Joe Williams to offer midfield cover from the bench.
Attack and striker
We mentioned in the defensive portion of this predicted team that Radek Vitek had perhaps made the best start to life under Roy Hodgson at Bristol City. Had we written this piece after the Good Friday win over Charlton, Scott Twine would have certainly been in contention for that mantle.
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The 26-year-old was superb at The Valley as he took his tally for the season to 11 goals. While he wasn’t quite as impactful against Sheffield United last time out, he remained bright as he carved out plenty of scoring chances and came close to finding the net himself.
Assuming he is fit and able to start once again at Loftus Road this weekend, we would expect Twine to retain his place just behind the sole centre-forward against QPR. At the moment, the number 10 shirt feels like his to lose, even with the number of alternatives waiting in the wings.
Ahead of Twine, our bet is that Emil Riis will again lead the Reds’ line. Has the Dane been perfect since Hodgson arrived in BS3? No, but he remains City’s most consistent striker, and his performance against Sheffield United on Easter Monday was much more influential than the display a few days prior.
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Should the Dane get the nod as expected, it will therefore be down to Sinclair Armstrong, Delano Burgzorg and Sam Bell to impact proceedings from the substitutes bench. All three had mixed cameos over Easter and will now be keen to kick on.
Bristol City predicted XI (4-4-1-1): Radek Vitek; Ross McCrorie, Noah Eile, Neto Borges, Cam Pring; Mark Sykes, Jason Knight, Adam Randell, Max Bird; Scott Twine; Emil Riis
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