Bristol City

BBC Sport football expert Chris Sutton has made his predictions for all 32 FA Cup third round games and given his verdict on who will make it into round four.

For this week's matches he is up against actor and musician Billy Bob Thornton, who is a Liverpool fan.

Sutton's prediction: 2-2 - Bristol City to win on penalties

Bristol City have picked up a bit of form of late, with three wins and a draw since Christmas.

They did well in the FA Cup last season, knocking out West Ham and then taking Nottingham Forest to a replay, and I fancy them to cause a bit of a shock here too.

Vitor Pereira made a good start as Wolves boss, but they were well beaten by Forest on Monday. He will want to get some momentum back, but how strong does he go?

I suspect he will give some of his fringe players a go, which will make an awkward tie even harder.

Billy's prediction: 1-0

Read the full predictions and have your say here

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Wolves have won both of their previous FA Cup meetings with Bristol City, winning 1-0 in February 1973 (fourth round) and 1-0 again in February 2019 (fifth round).

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Defender Rob Dickie is a major doubt for Bristol City's FA Cup third-round tie at home to Wolves on Saturday, according to head coach Liam Manning.

The 28-year-old played in last weekend's 1-0 Championship win over Derby County despite suffering from illness and has not trained this week.

"Rob's been ill and been in bed since the (Derby) game so huge credit to him [for playing] - he was ill before the game," Manning told BBC Radio Bristol.

"I was texting him on Monday and he was in bed, quite ill. The doctor has been to see him which speaks volumes for him and what people are willing to do for the team."

Should Dickie not be deemed fit, Saturday's game at Ashton Gate could see a return for defender Kal Naismith, who has not featured since early November because of injury, while midfielder Mark Sykes is also available after shaking a hamstring issue.

"Both [Naismith and Sykes] are in contention for the weekend," added Manning. "Even if we make tweaks and changes to the team we're still doing it to try to win the game."

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Wolves goalkeeper Dan Bentley says he is looking forward to "catching up" with his former team-mates when he returns to Ashton Gate in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.

Bentley made more than 100 appearances for the Robins and captained the side before leaving in January 2023 for the Premier League outfit.

"I got married in the summer and Pringy [Cameron Pring] was at the wedding as well - someone I still speak to regularly I spoke to him a couple of days ago," Bentley told BBC Radio Bristol's Sound of the City.

"Unfortunately he got injured in the previous game didn't he, but we'll still make sure we make time to say hello and swap shirts and stuff.

"There's still countless lads there that I always got on really well with who I will be looking forward to catching up with.

"Staff as well - real stalwarts of that club who help the club tick over.

"One of the Wolves lads Matt Doherty said to me the other day, 'are you going to get booed when you go back to Bristol City?' and I was like 'I'm not entirely sure'. I don't think so - maybe a little bit tongue in cheek.

"Whatever they decide to do is fine - it doesn't change my affection towards them."

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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Bristol City left-back Cameron Pring is set to be out for a "few weeks" because of a hamstring injury.

Pring went off in the 42nd minute of the Robins' 2-2 draw with Plymouth on New Year's Day.

The 26-year-old has made 21 appearances for the Robins this season and already missed a number of weeks during October after suffering a leg laceration.

"[It is] going to be a few weeks we think, [we're] just going to let things settle before we get the exact details on it," Bristol City head coach Liam Manning told BBC Radio Bristol before kick-off of their game against Derby.

"We're not going to see him for a little while."

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Bristol City have to "continue building" on a good run of form at home when they face Derby County on Saturday, says head coach Liam Manning.

The Robins are unbeaten in their past four games at Ashton Gate and have conceded just one goal and scored nine in that run.

They take on the Rams - who beat them 3-0 in the reverse fixture in August - following two wins and a draw in their three games over the Christmas period, picking up seven points from nine.

"We get back home on Saturday and have to continue building on what's been some good performances for us there and keep making it a hard place for teams to come," Manning told BBC Radio Bristol.

He said he was "disappointed" to not have taken maximum points over Christmas, following Plymouth scoring a 91st-minute equaliser on New Years' Day, but the team had to move on.

"You can't afford to carry any hangover, we haven't got time to do it and we shouldn't because we're performing well," Manning added.

Bristol City were moments away from going ninth, within three points of the play-off places, before being denied victory by Plymouth's last-gasp equaliser on Wednesday.

On Saturday (15:00 GMT) they host Derby, who slipped within five points of the relegation zone courtesy of a 4-2 thumping at Sheffield Wednesday, also on New Year's Day.

• Bristol City have won five of their past seven league meetings with Derby County (L2), though did lose the reverse fixture 3-0 back in August.

• After that 3-0 win at Pride Park, Derby County will be aiming to record a league double over Bristol City for the first time since 2015-16.

• Only Leeds United (14) and West Brom (13) kept more clean sheets at home in the Championship in 2024 than Bristol City (nine), who have won three of their past four league games at Ashton Gate without conceding.

• This is the first time both of Derby County's first two league games of a calendar year have come away from home since 2017, when they lost to both Norwich (0-3) and Leeds United (0-1).

• Derby County manager Paul Warne is unbeaten in his past eight league games managing against Bristol opposition (W7 D1).

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Bristol City boss Liam Manning said his side's margin of victory against struggling Portsmouth should have been even greater than the 3-0 scoreline at Ashton Gate.

"We have performed really well at times [at home] and not always had the finishing touch, which I thought we did today," Manning told BBC Radio Bristol.

"If I am being overly critical, it could have probably been another one or two on top.

"We went down there a few weeks ago and rightly so had a tough day [3-0 defeat at Fratton Park].

"There was an element of responding to that. The lads definitely did that from the start with the intensity, the aggression and the desire to go on and grab the game."

Richard Hoskin
Sports Editor, BBC Radio Bristol

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What do City need in January?

City could use another striker to convert some of the chances they have created. Nahki Wells has developed into first-choice striker as Sinclair Armstrong and Fally Mayulu get to grips with Championship football – both players are young and Liam Manning will hope there's more to come from them.

Whether another addition is realistic given the money they invested in the pair over the summer is another matter.

What sort of business are they likely to do?

Unless City have some additional money that Steve Lansdown is willing to spend, or players depart - they won't be able to significantly strengthen their squad. There's also financial fair play to take into account.

How successful have they been in recent January windows?

Twelve months ago, Max Bird was signed from Derby, but loaned back for the rest of the season. Scott Twine was signed on loan from Burnley – and then joined on a permanent basis in the summer. Adedire Mebude was signed on loan last year, but failed to make an impression.

There are examples of City using January as an opportunity to build for the future – for example they signed highly-rated Josh Stokes 12 months ago, and also paid a fee for Bird in the new year as opposed with having to deal with more competition in free agency.

The question is are they now able or willing to sign a player or two who can make a more immediate impact on this occasion?

Are there likely to be any notable departures?

City have had a conveyor belt of young talent being sold in recent times – Antoine Semenyo, Alex Scott and Tommy Conway spring to mind.

On this occasion I'd be surprised if City lose an important first-team player unless they need to sell players to bring money in to invest back into the squad.

Harry Cornick has warmed the bench all season – I imagine it'll suit all parties if a deal with another club can be reached.

How important is the transfer window likely to be in determining the success of their season?

As things stand, City are heading for another mid-table finish. I think the consensus is they may need to gamble in the transfer market if they're to genuinely challenge the top six this season.

Bristol City welcome Portsmouth to Ashton Gate on Sunday with the visitors hoping to repeat the score line from the two teams' previous encounter.

Then, a 3-0 win on the south coast helped Pompey climb off the foot of the table, and John Mousinho's men have jumped another two places since then despite losing to Watford in the dying embers of their Boxing Day encounter.

Bristol City come into this off the back of a much-needed festive victory that snapped a four-match winless run.

• Bristol City are unbeaten in their last six home league matches against Portsmouth (W2 D4) since losing 2-0 back in 1991.

• Portsmouth are looking to win consecutive league games against Bristol City for the first time since April 1992.

• Bristol City have ended their calendar year with a goalless draw in each of the last two years, drawing 0-0 with Millwall in 2022 and 0-0 with Birmingham in 2023.

• Portsmouth have only ended their calendar year with a defeat in one of the last 11 years (W4 D6), losing 3-1 to MK Dons in 2019.

• Portsmouth have lost just two of their last 16 league games against 'City' sides (W8 D7), with those defeats coming at the hands of Stoke and Cardiff in October this season.

Bristol City welcome Luton Town, with the hosts having gone four games without a win.

The Robins have lost two and drawn two of their past four games, last winning against Plymouth on 30 November.

Luton come into the trip to Ashton Gate having won two out of the past four and are two points behind their opponents.

• Bristol City have lost two of their last 16 home league games against Luton Town (W8 D6) and won 2-0 in the most recent game at Ashton Gate in August 2022.

• Luton have won eight of their last 11 league games against Bristol City (D1 L2), although both defeats were at Ashton Gate, in 2019-20 and 2022-23.

• Bristol City won 4-1 against Watford on Boxing Day last year but haven't won on December 26 in consecutive years since doing so in 2013 (1-0 vs. Walsall) and 2014 (2-1 vs. Yeovil).

• Luton have won four of their last six league matches on Boxing Day, winning in each of the last two years against Norwich (2-1 in 2022) and Sheffield United (3-2 in 2023).

• Bristol City's Nahki Wells has scored four goals in five Championship starts against Luton, with all four goals coming on home soil (1 with QPR, 3 with Bristol City).

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Bristol City head coach Liam Manning has confirmed full-back George Tanner is available to face Luton Town on Thursday following a spell on the sidelines.

The 25-year-old was an unused substitute in the Robins' 2-0 defeat at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday after missing the previous eight league games through injury.

"George can do some minutes," Manning told BBC Radio Bristol.

"Naturally, when you've been out for a little while and you come back you've got to be a little cautious but you also trust in the work that the boys do because they do a lot of conditioning work, so George will be in contention."

However, Manning remained guarded on how far away Bermuda international forward Nahki Wells is from returning to first-team action.

"Nahki's been out on the grass. Hopefully if he responds right we can get him back in the group training on Christmas Day, but again we have to see how he responds to today."