Brentford forward Said Benrahma has six goals in his past three games so you can't blame him for taking a shot on from about 30 yards out...

However, this one clears the bar by, well, miles.

Stoke, who are four points above the bottom three, are winless in their past seven away league games, letting in 18 goals in those matches.

They look organised at the back so far tonight though, in these early stages.

Brentford goalkeeper David Raya is called into action for the first time as he comes off his line well to charge down Tom Barkhuizen's effort.

The resultant corner is cleared away.

Image source, Rex Features

It really was an excellent goal by Ollie Watkins to get Brentford up and running in this one.

And the 24-year-old's 25th league strike of the season took him one clear of Fulham's Aleksandar Mitrovic at the top of the charts.

The Bees are targeting an eighth successive win and given the way these opening 10 minutes have gone you'd have to back them to get it.

Said Benrahma hits a cross in the direction of Bryan Mbeumo but Preston keeper Declan Rudd fields it.

Bristol City look up for this, as you'd expect of course, with them sitting six points off the play-offs.

Jamie Paterson whips in a right-wing corner, which drops for Andreas Weimann towards the edge of the area, but Weimann scoops his shot high over the bar.

The first half chance at Ashton Gate falls to the visitors, but Stoke forward Sam Vokes fires wide from inside the area.

It's a massive night for both of these clubs.

We're under way in both of our 17:00 BST games.

Can Brentford close in on the top two? Can Stoke climb away from relegation danger?

We're about to find out.

Image source, Rex Features

Caretaker boss Dean Holden names an unchanged Bristol City side after their win at Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Visitors Stoke make just the one change from Sunday's victory over Birmingham, as Lee Gregory starts up front instead of Tyrese Campbell.

Bristol City XI: Bentley, Benkovic, Baker, Kalas, Hunt, Weimann, Smith, Paterson, Dasilva, Wells, Diedhiou.

Subs: Nagy, O'Dowda, Watkins, Eliasson, Hinds, Rowe, Vyner, Wollacott, Massengo

Stoke XI: Davies, Smith, Batth, Chester, Martins Indi, Clucas, Cousins, Gregory, Powell, McClean, Vokes

Subs: Ward, Ince, Oakley-Boothe, Campbell, Sorenson, Thompson, Tymon, Collins, Nna Noukeu

Image source, Rex Features

Brentford make two changes from the team that beat Derby 3-1 on Saturday with Christian Norgaard and Mathias Jensen returning to the starting XI.Preston make five changes from their 1-1 home draw with Nottingham Forest. Darnell Fisher, Jordan Storey, Ryan Ledson, Alan Browne and Tom Barkhuizen all come in.

Brentford XI: Raya, Henry, Pinnock, Norgaard, Jensen, Benrahma, Watkins, Marcondes, Jansson, Mbeumo, Dalsgaard.

Subs: Daniels, Canos, Dasilva, Valencia, Dervisoglu, Jeanvier, Fosu, Zamburek, Roerslev.

Preston XI: Rudd, Fisher, Browne, Johnson, Storey, Rafferty, Hughes, Ledson, Bauer, Maguire, Barkhuizen.

Subs: Hudson, Huntington, Gallagher, Potts, Harrop, Bodin, Sinclair, Nugent, Stockley.

Image source, Rex Features

For Stoke, the equation is simple: Win tonight at Bristol City and they'd guarantee their safety. If they lose, four points above the drop zone with two further rounds of games to go, they might face a nervy finale, with tough fixtures to come against promotion-chasing Brentford and Nottingham Forest.

However, hosts Bristol City have targets of their own and need to win to give themselves any realistic chance of making a late, late dash in to the top six. The Robins have won two games in a row since head coach Lee Johnson was sacked and Dean Holden took caretaker charge.

Image source, Rex Features

Brentford's automatic promotion hopes looked faint at best when football resumed last month.

The Bees sat in fourth place, 10 points off second-placed West Brom with just nine matches to play.

However, since the restart Thomas Frank's outfit have been sensational, recording six wins from six, scoring 14 goals and conceding just two.

All of which means that a win today will see them close the gap on the Baggies to just one point with two matches to play.

Oh, and should they fail to stretch their winning run to eight games then table-toppers Leeds would need just one point from their final three games to secure their return to the Premier League.

We've also got three other games to bring you this evening, all involving teams either looking to boost their push for promotion or their chances of survival.

There's a lot to play for and a some very interested parties will be watching on.

Good afternoon and welcome to Wednesday's EFL live text.