Bristol City

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Bristol City head coach Gerhard Struber has hailed his side's "efficiency" following their 1-2 win at West Bromwich Albion on Boxing Day.

Anis Mehmeti and Ross McCrorie's first half goals were enough for the Robins to see out the match despite a late goal from the Baggies' Ousmane Diakite to ignite a late comeback effort by the hosts.

Albion had 10 more shots (16) than City at The Hawthorns (6).

"I would say this was, again, a big fighting victory, how we invested and tried to bring everything out to pick up points here," said Struber to BBC Radio Bristol after the match.

"As we know from the last few weeks they give nothing away points-wise and we know we have to come today [be] on our ball for energy, but also efficiency.

"In both directions, the boys were really committed, in all directions against the ball. We were also in on-the-ball moments, especially in the first half, really efficient but also really creative.

"I think this [efficiency] is something where we're growing at the moment and now the key word is consistency."

West Brom have taken more than double the number of points at home than they have away so will be relieved be back at The Hawthorns having suffered eight successive defeats on the road.

Bristol City have won just one of their past on the road.

• West Brom have won seven of their past eight home league games against Bristol City, with the exception being a 2-0 loss in October 2022.

• Bristol City won their last league game against West Brom 2-1 in April but haven't won consecutive league meetings with the Baggies since December 1993.

• West Bromwich Albion have played more games on Boxing Day than any other side in English Football League history, with this year's being their 108th. They have won 46 of their 107 so far, with only Manchester United winning more (54).

• Bristol City have won their past two Boxing Day league games, last winning three in a row between 1995 and 1997.

• In English football, Bristol City manager Gerhard Struber's only previous Boxing Day match was against West Brom in 2019 when he was Barnsley manager, drawing 1-1 at Oakwell.

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Bristol City goalkeeper Radek Vitek will be sidelined until February after undergoing what the club are describing as a knee "procedure".

The 22-year-old, who is on a season-long loan from Manchester United, missed Saturday's 2-0 Championship win over Middlesbrough.

Vitek has made 21 appearances in all competitions for the Robins this season, keeping seven clean sheets.

The club say he will undergo his rehabilitation from the injury at Bristol City rather than returning to Old Trafford.

City had Max O'Leary in goal for the victory over Middlesbrough and also have goalkeepers Joe Lumley and Lewis Thomas in their first-team squad.

David Pottier
Fan writer

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City got the Christmas and New Year period under way with a fine and much-needed win over high-flying Middlesbrough.

Goals from Emil Riis and Rob Atkinson were the difference in a very open game where over 40 shots rained in on goal.

Fans received the gloomy news before kick-off that goalkeeper Radek Vitek had sustained a knee injury in training which will keep him out of action for several weeks.

Former number one Max O'Leary took his place between the sticks and despite a nervy display, perhaps indicating a lack of proper match practice, the record will show he kept a clean sheet and, when it mattered, pulled off a couple of fine saves.

City's technical director, Brian Tinnion, spoke at a lunch event for the Senior Reds and left the fans in no doubt that they should not expect the purse strings to be relaxed at Ashton Gate any time soon.

There was no Plan A or Plan B dependent on whether or not City had a £10m windfall in January derived from the sell-on the club would receive if Antoine Semenyo leaves Bournemouth.

New contract offers remain on the table for Zak Vyner and Anis Mehmeti while, as things stand, Mark Sykes' representatives are holding out for a better deal with nothing as yet offered.

The hope is that Fally Mayulu will go out on loan and when asked about Harry Cornick, the reply was that something similar would benefit City's perennial bench-warmer as it would increase his chances of getting a contract somewhere else in the summer if he were in the shop window between now and then.

The chances of Cornick getting a loan move might depend on any punishment he receives for his part in the fracas at the end of the Millwall game on 6 December.

An FA spokesperson said: "Both clubs allegedly failed to ensure that their players and/or technical area staff did not behave in an improper and/or provocative and/or violent way after the match finished."

Joe Williams and Ross McCrorie were also charged individually along with Millwall's Joe Coleman and Doug Livermore for their part in what happened.

Any appeals must be tabled by 5 January, with the likely punishment being fines for both clubs and match bans for the players.

With the opening day of the transfer window fast approaching, I am sure there will be movement into and out of Ashton Gate in the coming weeks.

To avoid the commitment of offering three/four-year contracts to any newcomers, my reckoning is that we will see inbound loans while it will be interesting to see if City maintain their resolve in not succumbing to a cheeky offer for one of their squad members out of contract this summer.

You can hear more from David Pottier on the Forever Bristol City podcast, external

Adam Cottier
BBC Final Score reporter

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Having seen Middlesbrough have more than 70% of the possession and 28 attempts at goal, Bristol City fans could be forgiven for leaving Ashton Gate feeling their side had been slightly fortunate in claiming a remarkable win - arguably the standout of Gerhard Struber's time in charge so far.

But scratch the surface of this statement victory, which came in the wake of a dip in form and a plummet down the table, and there's a Bristol City side with a gutsy resolve and players who seem to shoulder responsibility very well.

The type shown by Emil Riis - a player who can wallop a ball harder than most - as he drove forward and smashed his team ahead against the run of play.

Then there's the type shown by Adam Randell in preventing Hayden Hackney from scoring, bailing Bristol City's returning goalkeeper Max O'Leary out of a first muddle.

And the type shown by Rob Atkinson - on as a sub after nearly two months out - as he made sure he connected with a typically excellent Scott Twine set-piece.

There were others who excelled as Bristol City bust a gut to give themselves a platform in a high-octane contest.

Middlesbrough are a powerful and fluid side who may be destined for automatic promotion.

Such a result should stand the Robins in good stead as they look to build another promotion bid themselves.

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Bristol City head coach Gerhard Struber has praised his side after their 2-0 win over Championship high-fliers Middlesbrough.

Emil Riis shot the Robins into a first-half lead before Rob Atkinson headed in a second-half corner to seal an impressive win.

The three points moved City up to ninth place in the Championship, two points off the play-off places.

"We fought on a really high level today," he told BBC Radio Bristol:

"We know Middlesbrough is a really good team and also has really good momentum and it's difficult against them.

"In the end it was a box-defending fight on the highest level, how the boys did it together.

"I would say we could be better in transition moments today, we sometimes gave the ball away too easily, but in the end I'm super happy ahead of Christmas that we celebrate three points."

Middlesbrough head into Saturday's game (15:00 GMT) having won all four of their Championship matches since Kim Hellberg took over as head coach and are now only five points behind the leaders Coventry.

Bristol City are 11th in the table, four points short of the play-offs having failed to win any of their past three league outings.

• Bristol City are unbeaten in their past seven league games against Middlesbrough (W5 D2), winning each of the last four in a row.

• Middlesbrough have lost their past two away league games against Bristol City – only once have they lost three in a row against them (March 2013-December 2017).

• Bristol City are winless in their past three Championship matches (D1 L2) – if they fail to win here, they would equal their longest run without a win in the competition this term (four between September and October).

• Middlesbrough will be looking to win five consecutive Championship matches for the first time since a six-game run between September and October 2023.

• Middlesbrough's Morgan Whittaker has scored in each of his past six league appearances and could equal the record for scoring in most consecutive EFL Championship outings (since 2004-05), a record of seven that is jointly held by Emmanuel Latte Lath (Aug 2024), Aleksandar Mitrovic (Nov 2021), Jordan Rhodes (Feb 2013) and Charlie Austin (Oct 2012).

David Pottier
Fan writer

Image source, Shutterstock

When Coventry's player of the match was their goalkeeper Carl Rushworth, you get the impression that despite losing, Bristol City put in a decent performance and were worthy of a point from Saturday's clash at the CBS Arena.

That's the problem with City at the moment. For the most part they are playing well.

But Saturday's result means they have now only won two of their past nine games and are 12 points adrift of second-placed Middlesbrough who visit Ashton Gate on Saturday.

It is not an absolute must-win game but with two tough away fixtures to follow at West Bromwich Albion and Millwall, further lapses will see them cut adrift from the play-off places in a league table that has become more stretched out after the latest round of fixtures.

City have had three goals disallowed in the past five games and two of those may well have stood had VAR been operating in the Championship.

Last weekend against Millwall saw Zak Vyner's equaliser chalked off as the assistant referee flagged for an offside against Ross McCrorie as he headed Adam Randell's raking pass into the path of the City defender.

Then on Saturday, Sinclair Armstrong slotted the ball home for a goal that would have given City the lead but the referee adjudged him to have handled the ball.

Both decisions may have been incorrect and when you add to the fact that City haven't been awarded a penalty on their travels for almost three years, the Millwall chant of "no-one likes us, we don't care" could be aimed by the club at the PGMOL, who have apologised more than once in recent times for errors made by matchday officials.

Sandwiched between the Millwall and Coventry defeats though was the thrilling midweek draw against Leicester.

Despite trailing by two goals at the interval, City fought back to level. At the height of the relentless second-half pressure, the Leicester goalkeeper appeared to pick up a head injury which, as the rules demand, brought an immediate cessation to the game.

While being attended to by the physio, the whole Leicester team came across to the technical area for a mid-half team talk from manager Marti Cifuentes - all rather convenient as I saw it and not for the first time this season.

It is another example of taking the dark arts to a new level which is something City appear quite naive at compared to some clubs.

You can hear more from David Pottier on the Forever Bristol City podcast, external

Bristol City head coach Gerhard Struber said his side had "problems" with being able to score in their 1-0 defeat by Coventry.

The Robins had nine shots on target to the league leaders' four during the match as they hit the post and saw Sinclair Armstrong's first-half goal ruled out for handball by the striker.

Struber added his side had "top chances" but were unable to convert them.

"I am really happy how we deal with the opponent today and we was in a really good way but we have to score and this is the difference between them and us - that they can use chances and we have the gap," Struber told BBC Radio Bristol.

"We are so close and we can see we can be with the top team in the league for the most of the time on the same level, but in the most important moments they have this ability and we have also good chances and we should use that.

"Their goalkeeper was on an outstanding level and caught one or other balls that was crazy sometimes. But these are the moments where we have to be super sharp and clinical.

"Sincs and Emil they did today a really good job. Sincs was really dangerous with his forward runs, the timing, also his link up - they created a really difficult game for the defence from Coventry.

"On the same time we have top chances and we have to use it.

"This is the only gap at the moment what I can see; the boys invest a lot, the effort was on an outstanding great level, our possession game, our transition game, against a top team in the league we played on a really high level but we lose this game [as we] have problems to score."

Championship leaders Coventry City will look to return to winning ways when they welcome play-off chasing Bristol City on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The Sky Blues have gone two games without a win in the league for the first time since September, having previously won 11 of 12, but are still unbeaten at home this season (W7 D2).

The Robins rescued a valuable 2-2 draw with Leicester from two goals down last time out but have only won two of their previous eight (D2 L4) to leave them in 10th, though they are just one point off the top six.

• Coventry City have lost none of their past five home league games against Bristol City (W3 D2), last losing to the Robins in October 2014 in League One.

• Bristol City have won one of their past nine league matches against Coventry (D4 L4), a 1-0 home win in October 2023.

• Coventry have won their previous six home league matches – they last had a longer home winning run between May and October 2021 (seven under Mark Robins).

• Bristol City have won four of their nine away league games this season (D3 L2) – already as many as they won in 23 away games in 2024-25 (W4 D10 L9).

• Bristol City's Emil Riis has scored four goals in his past six league appearances against Coventry, all for Preston North End.