Bristol City will hope to build on their solid start to the season when they host Oxford United in the EFL Cup first round on Wednesday.
While the Robins played out a draw with Preston North End at Ashton Gate, the visitors suffered defeat at the hands of Cambridge United.
Match preview
© Reuters
A home fixture against Preston would have felt like the ideal way to start the season to Nigel Pearson, with his Bristol City side needing to win games such as this one to realistically transform themselves into playoff contenders.
For much of the game, an opening win was within their grasp, a Sam Bell goal shortly after the restart putting the Robins ahead, but a Will Keane effort four minutes from time forced the home side to accept a share of the spoils.
Although Pearson would have felt frustrated with the late setback, avoiding defeat was arguably the main thing as they look to build some momentum.
At some point, the expected exit of Alex Scott for a substantial fee could give Pearson the freedom to make further additions to the ones that he already has, only two of the four making an appearance at the weekend.
Nevertheless, there are fringe members and youngsters in this squad who need assessing ahead of the end of August, and Pearson will relish the chance of seeing some of them in action on Wednesday.
From Oxford's perspective, they have been regarded as one of the favourites for promotion in League One, a consequence of having Liam Manning at the helm and making numerous eye-catching signings.
However, they endured a poor start to the season on Saturday, losing out 2-0 to a Cambridge United side that only narrowly avoid relegation in 2022-23.
While a rethink is not necessarily required, the setback will have lowered expectations among the fanbase, at least until the newcomers to the squad have fully settled at the Kassam Stadium.
These two sides last met in a League Cup tie as recently as 2014, with Oxford prevailing by a 2-1 victory at Ashton Gate at the same stage nine years ago.
- D
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Andreas Weimann will miss out for Bristol City after sustaining an injury during the first half at the weekend, joining Scott on the sidelines.
Goalkeeper Harvey Wiles-Richards and defender Jamie Knight-Lebel could each be handed opportunities, while many of the midfield and attack will be rotated and the likes of Matty James likely being rested.
New signing Ross McCrorie remains out of contention having not featured during pre-season.
Manning will look to bring some fresh legs into his Oxford XI, with Fin Stevens and Stanley Mills in line to feature down the right-hand side.
Marcus McGuane could get the nod over Cameron Brannagan in central midfield, with Simon Eastwood and Gatlin O'Donkor each being handed chances at opposite ends of the pitch.
Bristol City possible starting lineup:
Wiles-Richards; Tanner, Knight-Lebel, Dickie, Roberts; Knight, King, Williams; Sykes, Conway, Mehmeti
Oxford United possible starting lineup:
Eastwood; Stevens, Negru, Thorniley, Brown; McEachran, McGuane; Mills, Rodrigues, Browne; O'Donkor
We say: Bristol City 2-1 Oxford United
Pearson will make changes for this contest in a bid to assess his squad depth ahead of the end of the transfer window. That should give the visitors an opportunity to cause a surprise, but we feel that the Robins have enough quality at their disposal to secure the win.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
