Robins travel to Portsmouth looking to build momentum

Daniel Wales and Charles Hague-Jones preview Bristol City’s away match against Portsmouth.

Transcript

00:00Dan, looking at Bristol City's upcoming Championship fixture, how they face Portsmouth away from

00:07home. Obviously, Portsmouth have struggled. They won League One last season with 97 points,

00:13a remarkable season for them. A club that was fantastic in the Premier League for many

00:19years and a lot of fans and a lot of neutrals would have wanted to see Portsmouth back,

00:24incredible atmosphere at Fratton Park. Bristol City go there, they sort of look,

00:30at the end of the day, they are only five points away from those places at this stage of the

00:35season. I mean, it's a big game for them. They need to start building momentum, especially ahead

00:40of the festive period. How do they go into this one? Is there any sort of plan? They need to

00:47ensure that they get three points. It just seems so crucial, as I say, just before these festive

00:52periods. So what can you say ahead of the game? Yeah, it is an important game for Bristol City,

00:57there's no doubt about it. Portsmouth have struggled a lot this season, as you rightly

01:01say. They did get a win recently in the Championship, but to be honest, it's a game

01:06where Bristol City, given the aspirations that they have currently, that they have to go and

01:12get at least a point. But realistically, they should be getting all three, to be honest,

01:16the way Portsmouth have gone about things this season. Bristol City have had an up and down

01:21time of late, to be honest. Two 1-0 defeats against Burnley at home, and then Watford

01:29away from home. But then they managed to go and beat Plymouth 4-0 at Ashton Gate,

01:34winning against Plymouth, of course, and that was quite a standout result. And it's been Messi

01:37certainly stealing the headlines on that occasion, scoring twice and assisting another. And Liam

01:42Manning was certainly very pleased for him and his performance in terms of how he just gets on

01:46with his role despite whatever is said about him, either by Manning or in the press, for example.

01:51But yes, they go into this game on the 7th of December, and as I say, a win is very much needed

01:59because they are only five points off the playoffs, Bristol City. They're sat in 11th.

02:03Portsmouth, of course, sat bottom of the Championship only on 13 points,

02:07minus 12 goal difference. Bristol City actually have a positive goal difference on plus three.

02:11And you think, well, if they are going to challenge for these playoff places, these are

02:14the sort of games you can't be missing opportunities with. You can't be just letting teams who have

02:20struggled this season so far take points off you. If you are, if you have got these aspirations that

02:26a lot of those at Ashton Gate will hope they do, and not just at Ashton Gate, but of course,

02:30those in the playing staff and Liam Manning himself. So yeah, it's a big game for Bristol

02:37City. One, they need to go in, take three points. And it's for Messi, of course, is their standout

02:41player at the moment. They've also got the likes of Naki Wells as well, and Scott Twain, who have

02:45been getting in amongst the goals. But I think it's a game where Portsmouth will probably know

02:50that they haven't got the capability to go toe-to-toe with a team like Bristol City.

02:54So they'll probably sit in, make it difficult, and it's whether Bristol City can then go and break them down.