Bristol City can “test” Burnley in Ashton Gate clash

Daniel Wales and Charles Hague-Jones preview Bristol City’s Championship encounter with Burnley.

Transcript

00:00Dan, looking at Bristol City's next fixture, Burnley in the Championship at home. Now it's

00:07obviously coming off the back of a fantastic win away at Norwich, but Burnley are going

00:12to be a promotion contender. We know this, we know how, you know, despite what the manager

00:17has managed over the last few seasons at Burnley, they do tend to get up from the Championship

00:23just because of their quality throughout the ranks there. So, you know, obviously fourth

00:27in the table, a tough, tough side to host. How do you see Bristol City faring in this

00:33one? Because it could be, you know, a massive result for their season.

00:36Well, given how close they are to the playoffs, it is a big, important game. And of course,

00:41you know, Bristol City win this game, they go on at 25 points. There's only two points

00:44behind Burnley, which, you know, you wouldn't have thought that perhaps at the start of

00:48the season, given how strong Burnley's squad is. Under Scott Parker though, Burnley have

00:52been, I mean, they picked up a lot of points, yes, but their football has been very unattractive.

00:59It's been, you know, possession, a lot of passing, but not a lot of sort of end product

01:06and times a lot of like, just football, it's not really easy on the eyes, sort of back

01:10to front, back to front, side to side, and then nothing really cutting edge at the top

01:15of the field. Sometimes the long ball comes in as well. So it's certainly an opportunity

01:19for Bristol City, if you ask me, because as good as Burnley have been in terms of picking

01:23up points, I think Bristol at home, and given the fact that they are off the back of a good

01:28win against another promotion contender in Norwich, even though Norwich have sat down

01:31the table a little bit, they have the ability to really test a side like Burnley, given

01:38how closely packed they all are in the championship. Of course, we already mentioned in other videos

01:44this week about the likes of Anis Mometi, Naki Wells, some of the quality Bristol City

01:49have, and that can be a real threat to Burnley under Scott Parker. Of course, Burnley themselves,

01:55they definitely need a win because they're challenging the likes of Leeds, Sheffield

01:58United, Sunderland for those automatic promotion spots. Bristol City probably aren't good enough

02:03at this moment in time, in terms of their squad, to be looking at the automatic places,

02:07but certainly the playoffs, that's a possibility for them this season. As we've mentioned in

02:13previous videos, though, whether they have the consistency throughout the season to remain

02:17there, that's a different matter. But I think a win against Burnley at Ashton Gate could

02:25do absolute wonders for their season, because of course, you come off the back of an away

02:28win and you sort of, you may have had them stalled a little bit at the international

02:31break and that can be a real frustration for teams. But then you come back and you're playing

02:35a big game like this at home in front of your own crowd, and with players like Mometi coming

02:40into form in this league, it could just be the right time for Bristol City to really

02:46get a galvanising win against a good side. And if they do that, then the sky's really

02:51the limit because that could then help with their consistency, because they think, well,

02:54we've won two in the bouts and even though we've had that interruption in the middle,

02:57the sky's the limit.