Bristol City

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Sunderland's 2-1 victory over Stoke City on Saturday ended a six-match winless run in the Championship and keeps them within two points of the automatic promotion places.

The Black Cats are one of four Championship sides yet to beaten at home.

Only six sides have more than Bristol City's three away victories in the Championship this season, a record which has them ninth in the table.

But the Robins have lost their past two away games at Watford and Portsmouth respectively without scoring a goal.

• Sunderland have won just three of their past 17 league games against Bristol City (D8 L6), failing to score on nine separate occasions during that run, including in both of their matches last season.

• Bristol City have lost just one of their last nine away league games against Sunderland (W3 D5), a 2-0 defeat in December 1994.

• Sunderland are unbeaten in five midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games (W2 D3), conceding just one goal in this run.

• Bristol City have only won three of their past 18 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) away league games (D4 L11).

• Bristol City's Liam Manning has only lost one of his four managerial league games against Sunderland (W2 D1), a 2-1 defeat with MK Dons in August 2021 in League One.

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Despite seeing successive games postponed at the end of last month, Portsmouth have an opportunity to climb off the foot of the Championship table if they can overcome Bristol City at Fratton Park.

Pompey, who fought out a 2-2 draw at Swansea last weekend - their first game in three weeks - trail both QPR and Hull by two points going into their home meeting with the Robins.

Liam Manning's side, who are 11th in the league, have found consistency elusive but have succeeded in winning three of their last five away games at Middlesbrough, Preston and Norwich.

● Portsmouth have won just one of their last 12 league games against Bristol City (D7 L4), a 3-1 victory in September 2011.

● Bristol City have lost just one of their last six away league games against Portsmouth (W2 D3), keeping four clean sheets across those fixtures.

● Since a 0-0 draw with Sheffield United, Portsmouth haven't kept a clean sheet in their last nine league games (W2 D3 L4), conceding 17 goals in that run.

● Bristol City are looking to win successive league games for the first time since April last season following their 4-0 win over Plymouth last time out.

● Only Norwich (15) have dropped more points from winning positions in the Championship this season than Portsmouth (14), while only Sheffield Wednesday (10) have earned more points from losing positions in the competition this term than Bristol City (9).

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Veteran Bristol City striker Nahki Wells says he is viewing age as "just a number" and is learning from the club's younger attackers as well as passing on the benefits of his experience.

The 34-year-old is in his fifth full season with the Robins, bagging 43 goals in 210 appearances since joining nearly five years ago from Burnley.

He's scored five so far this term, and played a key role in last Saturday's 4-0 rout of Plymouth Argyle - with 21-year-old Sinclair Armstrong among the goals.

"I try not to look too far ahead, which is the difficult thing," Wells told BBC Radio Bristol.

"I take it game by game - I feel great - age isn't just a number but I try to look at it like that.

"This is the best I've played since I've been here and the best team since I've played in so I'm just relishing that."

Working with Armstrong and Fally Mayulu, another of the club's young strikers, is something Wells enjoys.

"Fally and Sincs are two lads who will go on to have great futures and I can still learn a lot off them," the Bermudian added.

"At the moment, it's probably more me leading by example and they can maybe look at few things and try to implement them.

"I try to give a lot of encouragement and be a positive influence. I think we can all complement each other well."

Former Bristol City midfielder Marlon Pack says he can see similarities between his time at Ashton Gate and with his current club, Portsmouth.

The 33-year-old is set to line up for Pompey against the Robins in their Championship match at Fratton Park on Saturday.

Pack was a key member of the Bristol City side which won the League One title and EFL Trophy in 2015.

"A lot of things we did with that Bristol City side, not so much on the pitch because that takes care of itself, but the small details in terms of the off-field curriculum like meeting up for coffee, I've tried to integrate into our group there (at Portsmouth)," Pack told BBC Radio Bristol's 'Sounds of the City'.

"We probably haven't got to the level we want to now, and at Bristol City we struggled to find our feet but we eventually got accustomed to life in the Championship and found our way."

Pack left Bristol City for Cardiff in 2019 before, three years later, re-joining hometown and boyhood club Portsmouth, where he is club captain and led them to promotion last season.

"Portsmouth have been through struggles and stabilised themselves - this club deserves to be higher but has to earn the right for that and I'm delighted to be part of the revival," he added.

"It's a club on an upward trend and I can see similarities between ourselves and my time at Bristol City - we can learn a lot from them and how they've gone about it."

City go into Saturday's game with three wins and three defeats from their past six games while Portsmouth are bottom of the table but have taken four points from their past two matches.

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It is one of the most eagerly anticipated dates in the football calendar as Premier League and Championship clubs join the FA Cup action from round three.

The draw will take place on Monday, 2 December from 19:00 GMT and can be watched live on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.

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Bristol City head coach Liam Manning wants more goals from across his team and not to have to rely on the forwards.

The Robins have only managed to score more than two goals in a game twice this season - and Nahki Wells and Anis Mehmeti have scored nine of City's 20 league goals between them.

"It also includes the central defenders - at Burnley especially ,with the number of corners and wide free-kicks, there were some terrific deliveries but not enough chances created off the back of them," Manning told BBC Radio Bristol.

"I'd be looking at Rob Dickie, Luke McNally, Zak Vyner and Jason Knight - who's a real attacking threat."

City have lost three of their past four Championship matches and host Plymouth on Saturday.

"The second you're dependent on one person to score goals, if you lose that person then you're in a bit of trouble and everyone needs to contribute and play their part," Manning added.

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Bristol City have to find their "ruthless edge", said captain Jason Knight after they fell to a second consecutive league defeat against Watford on Tuesday.

The Robins had 14 shots, with five of those on target, to seven from Watford with only one on target - the goal scored by Ryan Andrews early in the second half.

"It's that ruthless edge. We had three or four chances; we should have really converted and then the game's different," Knight told BBC Radio Bristol.

"We had many chances, especially first half in and around their box, and we've got to be more impactful."

Defeat follows a 1-0 loss to Burnley on Saturday, which leaves Bristol City 11th in the table, five points off the play-offs.

"The last couple of games we've had big moments that we haven't capitalised on - against good teams - but we've got to get something out of those moments," Knight said.

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Bristol City teenage centre-back Jamie Knight-Lebel said it was "still sinking in" after he made his international debut for Canada at the weekend.

The 19-year-old - who is on loan at League Two Crewe this season - was born in Montreal and grew up speaking French and English before moving to Bristol aged five and joining the Robins academy aged 14.

He came off the bench during the second half of Canada's 3-0 quarter-final win against Suriname in the Concacaf Nations League in Toronto.

"I'm making sure I'm doing my job for the team but, at the same time, taking it all," Knight-Lebel said.

"The first match, debut, it's important to take in those moments."

You can hear the full interview with Knight-Lebel - who is likely to be playing for Crewe on Monday in their trip away to Port Vale - on Monday's edition of BBC Radio Bristol's Sound of the City podcast.

You can also hear an interview with Knight-Lebel's Bristol City team-mate Marcus McGuane.

The midfielder talks about becoming the first Englishman since Gary Lineker to play for Barcelona, when he featured in first team in the Catalan Super Cup during two years with the Spanish giants' reserve team between 2018 and 2020.

Listen to Sound of the City every Monday at 18:00-19:00 GMT on BBC Radio Bristol and BBC Sounds.

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Watford are only behind West Brom in the play-off spots on goal difference following their 2-2 draw at Plymouth on Friday night and have won three of their last five games (D1 L1).

They host Bristol City on Tuesday night, who fell to their second defeat in three games in a 1-0 loss at home to Burnley on Saturday, having previously been unbeaten in eight (W3 D5).

• Watford have lost only one of their last six league games against Bristol City (W2 D3).

• Bristol City are looking to win consecutive away league visits to Watford for the first time since doing so in 2007-08 and 2008-09.

• Watford are unbeaten at Vicarage Road in the league in their previous 11 games (W7 D4); they last went 12 such games unbeaten in January 1999.

• Bristol City are looking to win three successive away league games for the first time since September 2021 under Nigel Pearson.

• Only against Rotherham (9) does Watford's Tom Ince have more EFL goals against a side than Bristol City (8), though he hasn't scored in his last seven league games against the Robins.