Bristol City v Newcastle - Match Preview

Personally, I’m not liking this season in the Championship so far, and not just because of the results from the first two games. The performances haven't been good enough, but I do still have faith that Rafa can get us to where we need to be. After all, we are not going to get ANYONE better than him.

I’m also not liking it for the sheer fact that I’m not going to be able to watch majority of the games. I live in Burton, so travel isn’t much of an option, especially for the midweek games, and it looks as if most games aren’t going to be televised anywhere, which means no streams. Something I looked forward to on a Saturday, has now turned into me sulking slightly, listening to the radio and trying to work out if we’re actually playing very well.

The only real reference I have to go off of so far, is Fulham, and we weren’t very good. Huddersfield, was apparently just as bad, the only highlight being the Gallowgate Flags initiative, which looked incredible. And, if we are to believe Jaap Stam, we weren’t very good mid week either, despite scoring 4 goals and only conceded a penalty. Hmmm.

Now, onto Bristol City. They’ve not had a bad start to the season really. Two wins in their first two games, followed up by defeat to Norwich on Tuesday. They’re currently sitting in 8th place, 9 places above us. Their current top goalscorer is Tammy Abraham, sitting on two goals in the league. They have a few injured players, but whether they are normally first-teamers or not, I have no clue. I honestly couldn’t name a single one of their players off the top of my head!

We’re still missing Mitrovic, who we are REALLY missing by the sounds of it. We massively lack his physical presence up front - his ability to hold onto the ball, pin defenders still and bring others into play. Diame is in contention to play, says Rafa, and Sissoko (yawn) is still sidelined. Tim Krul continues his comeback from injury, but not yet ready for competitive football, and although Mr Gouffran received a standing ovation from the crowd on Wednesday, I'm not expecting him to feature tomorrow.

We need to start stringing some results together, and the win against Reading was the perfect foothold.

Preferred Starting XI: (4-2-3-1): Sels; Sterry, Mbemba, Lascelles, Gamez; Shelvey, Hayden; Janmaat, Diame, Ritchie; Gayle

Subs: Darlow, Hanley, Dummett, Tiote, Aarons, Anita, Perez

I’ve put Janmaat at right midfield, as he’s awful at defending, yet decent going forward. It’s not ideal, but it’s the best I can see currently, with a formation we can’t seem to pull away from. I can’t see Gamez starting though, for whatever reason; Dummett will probably continue there in his place.

Now, please tell me there’s going to be a stream!