Gerhard Struber and Bristol City welcome Will Still’s Southampton to Ashton Gate as they look for a second home win of the seasonSouthampton and Will Still travel to Ashton Gate to face Gerhard Struber’s Bristol City(Image: Photo by Cameron Smith/Getty Images)

Will Still insists that he loves playing against teams that press his Southampton side, with the Saints head coach of the belief that “high-energy and high-intensity” matches suit his players ahead of their trip to Bristol City.

The Robins welcome Still’s side to Ashton Gate on Tuesday evening as they look to build on their first win in five matches against Norwich City last time out. Mark Sykes’ first goal of the season in the second-half against the Canaries proved to be enough for City to run out 1-0 winners at Carrow Road.

With their win in East Anglia, the Reds climbed up to seventh in the Championship, four points ahead of 16th-placed Southampton. Having been relegated from the Premier League last term, the Saints have had a mixed start to life back in the second tier, winning just two of their first 10 league matches under Still.

READ MORE: Former Bristol City midfielder announces retirement at 28 after extended injury absenceREAD MORE: Gerhard Struber issues Harry Cornick update after Bristol City forward absent from Norwich win

Southampton returned from the October international break with a goalless draw against Swansea City at St Mary’s on Saturday. While there was nothing to split the two sides in terms of goals, the Saints certainly had the better of the chances, taking 21 shots to the Swans’ six.

Still is expecting a more open affair against Gerhard Struber’s Robins in the West Country, however, and while that presents a different sort of challenge for both him and his players, it is one he feels they are more than equipped to deal with.

When asked if it was good to have another game so soon after the Swansea draw, he told the Southern Daily Echo, “Yeah, bring them on. The more games there are, the more opportunities there are to go again.

“Hopefully, we play as well as we have and are rewarded for what we’re trying to do. We’ll see what our numbers are like, who’s where fitness-wise. But if we keep doing that, I’m sure at some point it will work.

“I love teams that press us,” he continued. “I think a high-energy and high-intensity game suits us. Credit to Swansea, they came and took every opportunity to wind the clock down, the keeper’s fallen down, his ankle’s really sore and whatever. You expect that people will come here and do that because we’re a big team and we do things well.

“Hopefully, Tuesday’s game will have more intensity.”

Bristol City Live on Whatsapp

Join Bristol City Live’s Whatsapp community for all the biggest Bristol City stories sent straight to your phone

Bristol City Live is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.

Through the app, we’ll send the Bristol City news, live match coverage, team news, transfers, fixtures, analysis and more straight to your phone.

To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select ‘Join Community’.

No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live team.

We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out at any time you like.

To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘Exit group’.

If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.

Click here to join our WhatsApp community.

The quick turnaround between games – and the fact that both sides are in action once again this weekend – will likely mean that there will be some sort of rotation required for both teams.

For Struber and the Robins, it will be hard to make too many changes with the Reds already down to their bare bones in several areas, particularly central midfield where they’re already relying on Zak Vyner playing out of position as a result of injuries to Jason Knight, Max Bird and Joe Williams.

Southampton have absentees of their own, namely forward Ross Stewart who is expected to be sidelined until the new year. On top of that, however, Still is also aware that he will need to be careful with one or to members of his squad who started against the Swans at the weekend.

“I don’t think everyone can,” the Saints boss explained when asked if he could name the same line-up at Ashton Gate. “I think Elias Jelert has hurt his thigh or his groin. I’m not quite sure what it is yet, so that’s annoying.

“I’m not sure whether Welington can play all three games in a row because he’s come back from so long out. We’ll have to see where Josh Quarshie is. We have to manage that but keep pushing on the positives because there were a hell of a lot of them.”

READ MORE: Liam Manning details disappointment and makes Norwich future admission after Bristol City defeat

OPINION