Bristol City and Portsmouth continue their preparations for the 2022-23 campaign with a behind-closed-doors friendly at the Robins High Performance Centre on Tuesday.
The hosts were victorious in their first friendly of the summer when they defeated Cheltenham Town ahead of another year in the Championship, whilst the visitors have already played out three warm-up matches ahead of yet another push for promotion out of League One when the season gets underway at the end of July.
Match preview
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The Robins got their pre-season off to a winning start against League One outfit Cheltenham on Wednesday, with second-half goals from George Tanner and Tommy Conway securing a 2-0 win.
Nigel Pearson's men had a fairly disappointing 2021-22 campaign in the second tier, neither challenging for promotion or flirting with relegation as they finished in 17th place.
The experienced manager will be hopeful that his side can get the new season off to a good start as they look to provide more excitement for their supporters with an improved league finish.
Goals were a regular occurrence at both ends of the pitch, so the 58-year-old will have been pleased with his side's clean sheet in their first runout of the summer on Wednesday, albeit against weaker opposition that they will face during much of the upcoming campaign.
City face another third tier outfit on Tuesday, so Pearson will be looking for his team to make it back-to-back victories to continue their positive preparations prior to their season opener against Hull City on July 30.
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Meanwhile, Portsmouth have already completed three friendlies ahead of their League One campaign, which gets underway on the same date at Sheffield Wednesday.
Danny Cowley's side have defeated non-league outfit Havant & Waterlooville by a 3-0 scoreline back on July 2, before losing to another amateur side in the form of Gosport Borough just a day later, in which the squad was significantly rotated.
Pompey bounced back to defeat Qatari outfit Qatar SC out in Spain on Saturday, which concluded their pre-season training camp on a positive note.
An almighty fitness test in soaring temperatures was overcome by the League One side, who secured a 2-0 win thanks to goals from a trialist and Alfie Bridgman in the final third of a match played out in three intervals of 30 minutes.
Cowley will once again be tasked with leading Portsmouth to promotion to the Championship when the new season gets underway in the coming weeks, after the former Lincoln City boss led them to a disappointing 10th-placed finish in 2021-22, thus failing in their objectives as many have done before him as well.
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Team News
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The hosts will once again be without midfielder Alex Scott on Tuesday, with the 18-year-old being handed an extended summer break after helping the England Under-19s to European Championships glory at the start of the July.
New signing Stefan Bajic is unlikely to feature too, with the goalkeeper recovering from wrist surgery whilst awaiting international clearance following his arrival last Tuesday.
Other summer recruits Kane Wilson, Kal Naismith and Mark Sykes all played a part against Cheltenham on Saturday however, and all will be involved once again against Portsmouth as Pearson looks to rotate his squad in an effort to build fitness over the coming weeks.
As for the visitors, their summer arrivals - Marlon Pack and Zak Swanson - both started in Spain on Saturday, and are likely to be involved for Pompey again on Tuesday.
Cowley only has a small squad to manage as things stand, which means rotation is perhaps not as likely at Bristol City in midweek, with few other options to choose from.
As a result, several youngsters are expected to be involved once again, such as Jay Mingi, Harry Jewitt-White and Bridgman.
Bristol City possible starting lineup:
Bentley; Towler, Atkinson, Vyner; Wilson, Massengo, King, Pring; Bell; Weimann, Martin
Portsmouth possible starting lineup:
Bass; Swanson, Raggett, Robertson, Vincent; Morrell, Pack, Tunnicliffe; Harness, Curtis, Reid
We say: Bristol City 2-1 Portsmouth
Although Portsmouth should have the edge in terms of fitness here, having played an additional two friendlies compared to their hosts, Bristol City should manage to edge them out.
It should be a tight contest, as many pre-season matches are, but City should have enough quality on display to see off their lower-league opposition, particularly if the likes of Andreas Weimann and Chris Martin are on form.
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Matthew Tranter
