Bristol City

John Acres
Final Score

Image source, PA Media

Bristol City struggled with the aerial ball in their 2-1 defeat to QPR, and the visitors took full advantage.

There were too many hopeful passes played into the QPR penalty area looking for Emil Riis which were easily dealt with, and the hosts looked vulnerable when defending set-pieces and crosses.

Bristol City took the lead and looked comfortable for long spells - until two balls into the box, one resulting in Richard Kone's equaliser, the other in Paul Smyth's late header, ultimately cost them.

It suggests that for City, clean sheets may be harder to come by unless they shore up aerial organisation and are more decisive with second balls.

They also were wasteful in front of goal and missed some excellent opportunities.

QPR took theirs, and were roared on by 3,000 away fans in good voice. They looked dangerous on the break, and will be well clear of a relegation battle if they show the same togetherness and work rate between now and the end of the season.

David Pottier
Fan writer

Image source, Rex Features

Many say you cannot judge how a season is going to pan out until at least 10 games have been played.

As we go into the second international break of the season, City have played nine games but after Saturday's home loss against QPR what had been seen as a great start after five outings has now morphed into an average one.

The Robins are winless in four now despite a sprightly performance against Ipswich on Tuesday night, and a win against the west London side would have put a different complexion on things but they are a team in form right now, undefeated in six since a 7-1 drubbing at high-flying Coventry City.

More to the point, they must relish the prospect of coming to Ashton Gate as they have now won five and drawn one of their past six visits.

Scott Twine should have given City an early lead had he shown just a little composure but they went in at half-time ahead through an Emil Riis header.

Despite the lead, too many City players were having 5/10 performances and it was no surprise when QPR levelled through Richard Kone. Anis Mehmeti and Ross McCrorie went close but you just had the feeling there was going to be an unhappy outcome and so it proved.

Paul Smyth clearly pushed McCrorie in the back as he positioned himself for the looping header which hit the back of the net and then referee Ed Duckworth further fuelled City's anger when, in the dying seconds, he failed to award a penalty when Neto Borges was flattened right in front of him.

City's fall-off in form is, without question, because of the sheer number of first-choice players being injured.

Jason Knight, Cameron Pring, Max Bird, Joe Williams and Luke McNally would be definite starters in the eyes of most fans. The squad depth, if you can call it that, does not extend to the front men where it is a case of quantity not quality.

The team formation is, for now, to play with just one striker and head coach Gerhard Struber can call upon Fally Mayulu, Harry Cornick and Sinclair Armstrong. He has shown an unwavering preference for the latter but there must be some really obscure reason for not giving the willing Cornick some minutes.

Things don't get any easier for City after the international break as they begin a run of six games in 20 days with little prospect of having any of the injured players back in contention and, looking at who the games are against, to achieve a respectable nine points to maintain this now average start looks quite daunting.

Image source, Getty Images

Frustrated Bristol City head coach Gerhard Struber lamented his side's lack of sharpness at both ends of the pitch after they let a half-time lead slip at home to QPR.

The Robins, who are now without a win in their last four games, went in front at Ashton Gate when Emil Riis headed his fourth goal of the campaign before the visitors struck back to take the points through second-half goals by Richard Kone and Paul Smyth.

"This is a typical moment from the Championship," Struber told BBC Radio Bristol.

"You have to be sharp in all moments and we have not had the sharpness in two boxes in the second half which you need – in both directions we were not sharp and we gifted this game so cheaply.

"We had enough chances to win this game. They are really good at the moment and you have to stretch your performance because this was not enough.

"It's a shame we got out with nothing when we can see so many good moments, how we break them down, how we play against the deep block and create chances against them – this was very good to see.

"This is the frustration, I can see my boys in really good moments but in two or three moments we're not ready and lose this game."

Image source, Opta

Bristol City will seek to get back on track when they welcome upwardly-mobile QPR to Ashton Gate on Saturday (15:00 BST).

The Robins have fallen off the pace in the Championship, taking just two points from their past three games after collecting 11 in their opening five matches.

They remain fifth but are only a point ahead of the 10th-placed Rs, who themselves have taken 11 points from the five games since their 7-1 humbling at Coventry in August.

Resurgent Rangers have a fine recent record against City and a win could see the visitors climb into the top-three depending on results elsewhere.

• Bristol City are winless across their past four league games against QPR (D2 L2), scoring just two goals across those matches.

• After failing to win any of their 10 away league games against Bristol City between 2004 and 2019, QPR have since won on four of their past five visits to Ashton Gate (D1).

• Bristol City are winless in their past three Championship games (D1 L2) – if they fail to win here, they will equal their longest winless run of the previous campaign (four games in December 2024).

• QPR have only lost two of their seven away games in the Championship since the start of April (W4 D1), after losing all six away matches they played across February and March.

• Anis Mehmeti has been directly involved in 20 goals in the Championship since the start of last season (16 goals, four assists), more than any other Bristol City player.

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Bristol City boss Gerhard Struber hopes Rob Atkinson's injury problems are not serious after the defender scored his first goal for the club since 2023 in their 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town.

Atkinson headed home Anis Mehmeti's corner in the first half but had to go off with a quarter of an hour of the game remaining.

"We invest a lot in the last few weeks in set-pieces and we know Rob Atkinson has outstanding aerial power," Struber told BBC Radio Bristol..

"He has something in the ankle, and something in the knee right now but the game showed how important Rob Atkinson is for us, not only to score but how strong he is in defence moments in his personal duels."

Victory could have put the Robins second in the table, but instead they remain in fourth place.

"It is a really good performance from the boys. How we executed the match plans were super disciplined. All the boys worked together, so close," said Struber.

"I cannot remember them having a good chance against us. We must remember this is a team that has a £200million transfer value.

"You could see their quality and how our boys dealt with it was really good."

Bristol City will be at home again on saturday when they face QPR.

Image source, Opta

Bristol City will seek to get back to winning ways at Ashton Gate as Ipswich head west on Tuesday night (19:45 BST).

After going down 3-1 at home to Oxford United in their most recent home game, the Robins drew 0-0 at Preston on Saturday to stay fourth in a tightly-packed chasing pack behind early leaders Middlesbrough.

Though they lie 12th, the Tractor Boys are only three points behind after beating Portsmouth 2-1 at the weekend, though they have only picked up one point from their two away games thus far, with the third at Blackburn abandoned 10 minutes from time, with Town trailing 1-0, and to be replayed in full.

• Bristol City lost both league meetings with Ipswich Town in 2023-24 when they last faced each other, more than their previous 10 league matches against the Tractor Boys beforehand (W6 D3 L1).

• After their 1-0 win in October 2023, Ipswich could enjoy back-to-back away league wins at Bristol City for only the second time ever, previously doing so in 2011.

• Bristol City have both scored and conceded in nine of their past 10 home league games, the exception a 0-0 draw with Charlton in August.

• Ipswich have won just one of their past 13 away league games (D5 L7), a 2-1 victory at Bournemouth in April.

• Bristol City are unbeaten in their past eight midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games (W4 D4) since a 0-1 defeat to Watford in November 2024.

David Pottier
Fan Writer

Image source, Rex Features

City needed a performance after losing at home to Oxford in their previous game. They certainly delivered in that respect nullifying everything Preston had to offer in attacking intent on Saturday.

They would have won were it not for Anis Mehmeti's effort in the dying seconds bringing a wonder save from the home side's goalkeeper Daniel Iversen.

Arguably Mehmeti has been one of City's star performers so far this season but he is still very erratic in front of goal. This was epitomised midway through the second period when, after being put through by Zak Vyner, he was one-on-one against Iversen but skewed his shot wide of the target.

Mehmeti was signed by Nigel Pearson from Wycombe in January 2023 to bring some attacking flair to the squad. He took time to establish himself but last season found the net 12 times before seemingly falling out of favour with coach Liam Manning in the spring. This may explain why the Albanian has not signed the contract that has been offered to him and seems unlikely to if rumours are to be believed.

Accordingly, he will walk away next summer as a free agent. Whether he achieves his desire to play in the Premier League remains to be seen but if he makes it two successive seasons of double-digit goalscoring he'll get a very good deal for himself at another Championship club I would imagine.

Worryingly for City their man of the match Vyner is also out of contract in nine months time. The defender almost joined Wrexham in the last window and although personal terms were agreed City stuck to such a price that the deal collapsed.

They may rue that decision as, unless Vyner is offered revised terms and re-signs, he too will walk and secure a nice payday for himself.

The same applies to midfielder Mark Sykes and illustrates a worrying trend at City over recent years of not tying down players to new deals or generating revenue through sales.

Back to more immediate matters and when Jason Knight hobbled off the pitch in the closing stages on Saturday it was the first time since April 2024 that he had not completed 90 minutes.

At the time of writing we don't know how long he is going to be ruled out for but with Max Bird, Josh Stokes and Joe Williams all out injured, City definitely have a crisis in the engine room of the team formation.

It will be interesting to see how head coach Gerhard Struber shuffles his pack in the two home games before the international break.

Image source, Rex Features

Bristol City boss Gerhard Struber told BBC Radio Bristol he felt his side deserved more than a draw in the goalless stalemate with Preston.

"I think performance-wise it was really good. The boys realised in the end we had really good chances to win the game. I thought we had many battles on the field, which is what we would expect.

"In the end we were not so lucky today. I think we invested a lot in both directions. We invested so much in the opponents' half.

"In the end we deserved much more than one point but that's sometimes football and we have to accept that."

Preston North End will look to sustain their superb start to the Championship when they host Bristol City on Saturday (15:00 BST).

The Lilywhites have only lost one league game this season to put themselves in the top six after ending their last campaign on a winless run following their FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Aston Villa.

It puts the hosts level on points with the visiting Robins, who are coming off a disappointing loss to Oxford United last time out.

• Preston have won just two of their last 13 league games against Bristol City (D7 L4), with both victories in that run coming at home (December 2020 and January 2024).

• Bristol City have won two of their last three away league games against Preston (L1), as many as in their previous 20 visits to Deepdale (D8 L10).

• Preston have won three of their last five league games (D1 L1), more victories than they'd managed in their previous 18 in the Championship (W2 D8 L8).

• Bristol City are unbeaten in their three away league games this season (W2 D1), last having a longer run from the start of a campaign back in 2019-20 (6).

• No player has been involved in more Championship goals this season than Bristol City's Anis Mehmeti (6 – 4 goals, 2 assists). The Albanian has been involved in five goals in his last three league appearances for the Robins (3 goals, 2 assists).

Image source, Rex Features

Bristol City chief executive officer Gavin Marshall is to leave his role at the end of October to take a position with the Welsh Rugby Union.

Marshall is the CEO of the Bristol Sport group, which includes Bristol City, Bristol Bears men's and women's rugby teams and the Bristol Flyers basketball team.

Earlier this month, Marshall, who was also chair of Bristol City Women, helped facilitate the sale of the team to the Mercury13 group.

"For almost a decade I have lived and breathed our multi-sport offering, and I am proud to have played a part in helping drive record growth across all five sports teams during that time," he said.

Bristol City midfielder Max Bird has been ruled out of Saturday's visit to Preston North End (15:00 BST) with a calf injury that could see him miss an extended period of time.

Bird did not feature in the defeat to Oxford United last Sunday and while boss Gerhard Struber initially thought the injury seemed "not so bad", that positivity seems to have dampened.

Bird missed the opening game of the 2025-26 campaign because of a calf injury sustained in July.

"We have to wait for the specialist that looks a little bit deeper but it looks at the moment not so good that he'll be back soon," Struber told BBC Radio Bristol.

"I cannot say it's exactly the same as what he had in the pre-season but at the moment, the situation looks not great."

However, while defender Rob Atkinson has not trained after picking up a knee injury against Oxford, he could be fit for the trip to Deepdale.

Struber has confirmed there is no damage to the 27-year-old's ligaments however his participation will depend on how the injury affects his performance.

"If he can deal with the pain in a way that he can play, then it looks good for the weekend," the Austrian said.

Listen to the full interview with Struber and more Bristol City content on BBC Sounds.

A potential move to take the Championship play-offs down to eighth place would damage the competition's credibility, according to former Huddersfield, Stoke and Middlesbrough defender Tommy Smith.

The EFL board is set to discuss proposals to increase the number of teams in the end-of-season play-offs from four to six but Smith, who was promoted to the Premier League with Huddersfield via the play-offs in 2017 is not a fan of the idea.

"It's not for me - I think it suits teams who don't really have a chance to get in the top six," he told the BBC's EFL podcast 72+.

"From a credibility point of view the top six is there to be aimed at and you have to earn your place in it."

The play-offs were first introduced for the 1986-87 season where sides finishing third down to fifth were involved along with the team third-from-bottom in the top flight.

After two seasons the format was changed to be played out between teams finishing third to sixth in the second tier.

"To finish eighth in the Championship and potentially get promoted to the Premier League it just doesn't sit right with me," added Smith.

"Notoriously over the past years getting into the top six is tough and when you get in there after a long hard season it feels brilliant, so to make it a top eight it dilutes it."

David Pottier
Fan writer

Image source, Rex Features

In the world of many Bristol City fans (well, certainly mine!) everything was in place in the build-up to Sunday's game against Oxford United for what we knew would end up being an afternoon of disappointment.

It was a lovely sunny day, a bumper crowd for a match designated as the club's Family Day, opponents without a win in their opening five games, a chance to move to second place in the table and, by winning, make it the best start to a season at this level for 51 years.

We weren't disappointed in our expectation of disappointment as City stumbled to defeat in a very lacklustre performance, only brightened by a potential goal of the season contender from Anis Mehmeti.

In fairness to Gary Rowett's Oxford, they had earned two creditable draws in their previous two games against Coventry and Leicester and, on this showing, they do not look to be contenders for involvement in a relegation scrap as the season moves forward.

City coach Gerhard Struber is still enjoying his honeymoon period in the fans' eyes although some were certainly questioning his substitution decisions through all phases of the game.

Many thought the loss after 15 minutes of left-sided defender Rob Atkinson should signal the introduction of loan signing Neto Borges as a natural fit for that side of the pitch. Instead he elected to push right-footed Zak Vyner across to join the similarly footed McCrorie on the left flank and bring on the defensively oriented George Tanner.

With Mark Sykes having a very poor first half many thought he should have come off at half-time to allow McCrorie to move to his natural position with Yu Hirakawa coming on in a role he is familiar with.

Instead we had to wait until the 71st minute for a double substitution and when Fally Mayulu and Sinclair Armstrong came on with five minutes remaining, City's team shape was all over the place.

One thing that is baffling City fans right now is an apparent reluctance to take off his talisman Jason Knight, even when he is having an indifferent game, as was the case on Sunday.

Adam Randell's number is always the one that comes up and so far this season he is being more Jason Knight than Jason Knight. Give the energetic Irishman a rest for goodness' sake.

Yes, Sunday was a bad day at the office but City have it in them to bounce back with a result at Deepdale at the weekend, their first game against a team in the top half of the table.

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

Image source, Rex Features

Bristol City were not at their normal "standard" in the defeat 3-1 defeat by Oxford United said head coach Gerhard Struber.

The Robins fell to their first Championship defeat of the campaign under the Austrian, conceding three goals - two from free-kicks - against the U's.

"We were not super-ready in set-pieces. All three goals we conceded were over set-pieces - moments with not the right tension, not the right behaviour," Struber said.

"They had power in this way but how we dealt with those moments was not normally our standard.

"Until this game we have been really good in set-pieces, how we defend against the opponents, but today it was not on a really good level and this makes the difference.

"In both boxes it was not always in the right tension, the right sharpness that we have to be.

"I'm happy how we fight, how we believe to come back. The boys invested today but in both boxes it was not so strong like normally and this makes the difference."

Image source, Rex Features

Bristol City have to wait for more news on centre-back Rob Atkinson's injury after he went off after 15 minutes in the defeat by Oxford.

Atkinson has started all six league games for the Robins this season after returning from a long-term knee injury that kept him out of the squad for more than two years.

"We don't know exactly right now, it's something on the knee," head coach Gerhard Struber said.

"It was a bit of an over-stretch. We have to look deeper tomorrow with the scan."

Struber also confirmed midfielder Max Bird has picked up another calf injury that kept him out of the matchday squad for the visit of Oxford.

Bird missed pre-season with another calf problem, although Struber said this one "looks not so bad".

"Unfortunately yesterday in the pre-match training he has a problem again with his calf. We have to look deeper tomorrow with a scan and then we know much more," Struber said.

Winless Oxford United head to unbeaten Bristol City on Sunday (15:00 BST) seeking to get their season started.

After losing their opening three Championship games of the season, Gary Rowett's men have responded with back-to-back 2-2 draws against Coventry and Leicester, though both came at home.

The Robins went into the weekend two points off the top after three wins and two draws in their opening five games and scored seven times in their past two fixtures against Hull City and Sheffield Wednesday.

• Bristol City are unbeaten in their last five league games against Oxford United (W2 D3) since losing 3-0 in October 1999.

• Oxford have lost one of their past eight away league visits to Bristol City (W2 D5) though that defeat was last season in a 2-1 defeat.

• Bristol City are enjoying their best start to a league season (11 points in 5 games) since winning 13 in their opening five games in 2020-21, though they went onto finish 19th that campaign.

• Oxford were unbeaten in their first nine league games under Gary Rowett but they've since won four of their past 21 matches (D6 L11). Since the date of this 21-game run (4 February), the only ever-present side to win fewer points than the U's (18) is Sheffield Wednesday (17).

• Bristol City's Anis Mehmeti has both scored and assisted in each of his last two Championship appearances – he had only achieved this once in his first 129 games in the competition beforehand.

Bristol City have taken "big belief" from their results so far, says head coach Gerhard Struber, as the club remain unbeaten in the Championship after five matches.

The Robins play Oxford United in their next match on Sunday, having beaten Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 away in their previous game.

City are averaging three goals per game going forward and have also conceded the second lowest amount in the division so far, with four.

"When you step out with clean sheets, when you step out with victories, it's always good for the confidence but also how we interpreted our identity, this is good to see and this gives everyone big belief," Struber told BBC Radio Bristol.

Struber said even after a comprehensive win against the Owls, his players were already looking at what more they could have done.

"We have leaders in the dressing room that all have high standards," he added.

"It must not always be the manager in front of the group saying something - they are also very good at reflecting and ready for more."

Struber added defender Rob Dickie is available to face the U's after going off at half-time last weekend.

Listen to more from Struber and Bristol City on BBC Sounds.