Bristol Live’s predicted Bristol City team to face Portsmouth as Gerhard Struber’s Reds look to bounce back from their defeat to WrexhamBristol City boss Gerhard Struber speaks to Scott Twine after the Robins’ win at Watford(Image: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire)

It is safe to say Bristol City are getting their miles in this week. A matter of days after their 300-mile round trip to Wrexham, the Robins and their supporters are on the road again this weekend as they travel to Fratton Park, where they’ll face Portsmouth on Saturday lunchtime.

The trip to the south coast comes off the back of a mixed return from the November international break for Gerhard Struber’s side. Having hit the ground running with a comfortable win over Swansea City at Ashton Gate last weekend, the Robins slipped out of the top six on Wednesday evening with a 2-0 defeat to Phil Parkinson’s side in North Wales.

Although the performance and result at the Racecourse Ground left a sour taste in the mouths of those who had made the long trip, the Reds remain in a positive position. After 17 matches, City find themselves seventh in the table, a single point and a single place outside of the play-off places.

For this weekend’s opponents, Portsmouth, the current standings don’t make for quite as pleasant reading. At the time of writing, John Mousinho’s side sit 20th, just two points above the relegation zone, and should Oxford United get the better of Ipswich Town on Friday night, that gap will be cut to a solitary point.

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Because of the respective league positions of both clubs, the Reds will likely be viewed as favourites by most heading into this one. While evidence suggests things in the second tier very rarely go as you’d expect, the Robins could well be boosted by the return of Scott Twine, with Gerhard Struber hopeful the attacking midfielder will be fit and ready to feature, having been left out with soreness in midweek.

Partner that with the fact that Jason Knight, Cam Pring, Neto Borges and Mark Sykes all continued to build their minutes on Wednesday evening, and it feels as though Struber and the Reds are finally heading towards the light at the end of the recent injury tunnel.

Increased availability does, however, mean a greater selection headache, and with such a short turnaround, rotation will likely be required at Fratton Park. With that all in mind, here is how we think City will start against Portsmouth on Saturday…

Goalkeeper and defence

For perhaps only the second time in his spell with Bristol City, Radek Vitek had a difficult moment during the Robins’ midweek defeat to Wrexham. While the Manchester United loanee was unfortunate to see George Thomason’s corner rebound off both his post and back before crossing the line, he maybe could have been better position to deal with the initial ball in.

If we were to lay any more blame at the 22-year-old’s door, however, it would be more than a little unfair. It was only the good work of the stopper that kept the Red Dragons’ lead to one up until that point, as he pulled off several smart saves. Our expectation is that he’ll continue between the posts against Portsmouth.

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Ahead of Vitek, we think Gerhard Struber will slightly change the personnel in the Robins’ back three. Our bet is that Zak Vyner will move deeper into the left centre-back position alongside Rob Dickie and George Tanner, with Haydon Roberts ultimately dropping out of the starting line-up and onto the bench.

The Reds missed Vyner’s presence in the backline both in and out of possession on Wednesday evening. He seems to give that defensive trio a better balance, even though he’s not left-footed and depending on Struber’s plan, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him pop up in midfield every now and again, as he did against Swansea.

In Roberts and likely Cam Pring, the City head coach will have options on his bench should he wish to change things up over the course of the contest – whether that be by moving Vyner into a more advanced role or by changing formation.

Midfield

In an unusual twist to our running order, we’re going to start this portion of the predicted team with Bristol City’s wing-backs. The Robins are arguably better stocked in the wide areas than any other position on the field currently, particularly with Cam Pring now fit and ready to feature in matchday squads.

However, Gerhard Struber has made it abundantly clear that he will need to manage the versatile defender carefully as he builds up his fitness after almost half a year on the treatment table. As a result, we think it will be Neto Borges who gets the nod on the left flank. The Brazilian only featured in the closing exchanges against Wrexham and should, therefore, be ready to start against Portsmouth.

That would mean that it would be a toss-up between Mark Sykes and Ross McCrorie for who starts on the right. Because of the quick turnaround and the fact that he has started both of the two games the Robins have played this week, our bet is that Struber will hand McCrorie a well-earned rest and start with Sykes – who was withdrawn earlier than his Scottish counterpart on Wednesday.

Mark Sykes has impressed under Gerhard Struber at Bristol City(Image: Photo by David Watts/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Then comes the question of who starts between the two wing-backs? We’re confident in our prediction that Adam Randell will maintain his record of starting every Championship game this term, at Fratton Park, but in all honesty, it is hard to accurately guess who will feature alongside him.

For the record, we think there is a very real chance Scott Twine and Anis Mehmeti could drop into the deeper role they started in against both Watford and Swansea… but on this occasion, we will let our heart rule our head. Our suggestion is that Jason Knight will make his first start since September.

Struber has managed the City skipper incredibly carefully since he returned to the fold last weekend, and perhaps that has been with half an eye on Saturday lunchtime’s game? We may well be wrong, but it feels as though the next step in the midfielder’s recovery will be taken sooner rather than later.

Attack and striker

With the more conventional midfield pairing expected to be in place, we expect Bristol City to start with the two attacking midfielders they’ve used for much of the season so far.

It feels as close to a certainty as it can possibly be that Anis Mehmeti will be the left-sided member of that pairing, having started every league game under Gerhard Struber so far. While he wasn’t quite at his clinical best against Wrexham on Wednesday, he still arguably carried the Robins’ greatest attacking threat, even if he was unable to take the chances that fell his way.

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Now, there is a chance Yu Hirakawa will again start alongside the Albanian international after a solid showing in midweek, and while we think that would be more than deserved, our prediction is that Scott Twine may well return to the fold.

After the loss in North Wales, Struber appeared confident the 26-year-old would be fit and ready to feature at Fratton Park, having been left out against Phil Parkinson’s side. The evidence suggests that when Twine is fit, he more often than not starts matches.

If all of what we have predicted above is true – and that feels like a big if given the uncertainty created by the quick turnaround – that will leave one striker position up for grabs. Unless the City boss surprises us all, which he has done before, we would expect it to be a toss-up between Sinclair Armstrong and Emil Riis for who gets the nod.

Riis played the full 90 minutes at Wrexham just a day after Struber admitted his workload would still need to be managed over this block of matches, despite the fact that the Dane feels he is now fully fit. Because of that, we expect Armstrong to start with Riis, Fally Mayulu and one of Olly Thomas or Ephraim Yeboah featuring amongst the substitutes.

Bristol City predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Radek Vitek; George Tanner, Rob Dickie, Zak Vyner; Mark Sykes, Adam Randell, Jason Knight, Neto Borges; Scott Twine, Anis Mehmeti; Sinclair Armstrong

READ MORE: Why Bristol City started slowly in Wrexham defeat as Gerhard Struber explains ‘mental topic’

OPINION