Bristol City will be without suspended defender Bailey Wright for the visit of Cardiff, after he was found guilty of simulation during their win at Fulham. Full-back Eros Pisano (hamstring) and centre-back Nathan Baker (knee) are both doubts for the in-form Robins. Cardiff's Aron Gunnarsson and Kenneth Zohore face a battle to be fit, but Matt Connolly (ankle) could return. Joe Bennett and Kadeem Harris have been ruled out for Saturday, and Jazz Richards remains a long-term absentee. Former Bristol City playmaker Lee Tomlin could return to Ashton Gate for the first time since his summer move to Cardiff. The match will come one day after Tomlin was sentenced for his part in a brawl outside a Leicester nightclub in January. SAM's prediction Home win 40% Draw 27% Away win 33% Bristol City head coach Lee Johnson told BBC Radio Bristol: "It will be quite a tight game, if you look at the two teams' strengths and weaknesses. It is going to be cagey. Whether it'll be a 'spectacle', I'm not so sure. "It will be a typical derby, full of passion. Sometimes these games change on a moment of brilliance and hopefully one of our players provides it. "Credit has to go to Cardiff with what they've done, turning things around. It'll be a tough game for both teams." Analysis BBC Wales football correspondent Rob Phillips This is the sort of game Neil Warnock relishes. Never mind the usual managerial cliche of keeping a cool head in the so-called Severnside derby. Warnock is different, telling BBC Radio Wales: "In derbies, you can't say 'calm down'. You've got to feel the passion. Managers feel it, the fans get up." Cardiff have not lost to any of the other sides in the current top eight this term, and Warnock did the double over the Robins last season. His reign started with a 2-1 home win over Bristol City with Tomlin netting for the visitors. The fact that Tomlin moved to Cardiff in the summer adds another ingredient to a really tasty derby brew. BBC Radio Bristol sports editor Richard Hoskin Matches between Bristol City and Cardiff are games to look forward to. In my time at BBC Radio Bristol, Cardiff have had the upper hand - but on this occasion the game comes with even more added spice. Bristol City have been in impressive form, and Lee Johnson will be looking to close the gap on their Severnside rivals towards the top of the table. From his time as Crystal Palace boss, Warnock has enjoyed a rivalry with the red half of Bristol. And this weekend sees the return of Tomlin, who interestingly returned to Cardiff's starting line-up on Tuesday. He will be desperate to start again against his former club. For Bristol City, it's a real test of their credentials - but on the evidence of their most recent victory at Fulham, they have every chance of beating Cardiff for the first time in five years. Match facts The Robins have won two of their past 17 matches against Cardiff in all competitions (D4 L11). The Bluebirds have won four of their past six trips to Ashton Gate (L2) since a run of 19 games without a win there in all competitions between 1970 and 2010. Bristol City, who lost their last home league game 3-0 against Leeds, haven't lost back to back home league games by three or more goals since April 1932. Cardiff have more than double the number of points this season after 15 league games (31) than they had at this stage last season (15). Bobby Reid has scored nine goals in 15 league appearances this season, as many as he'd managed in his previous 119 games. Omar Bogle, who scored against Ipswich in his last appearance for Cardiff, hasn't scored in back-to-back league matches since November 2016 when he played for Grimsby Town in League Two.
Why is the projected crowd so low, only just under 21,000 guarenteed? Is there a travel ban on the thugs from across the bridge travelling? Given the 2 sides rivalry and league positions this should be a 25,000+ gate......
Does anyone have any links to a live stream of the game please? I was hoping it would be on BeIn Sports down here, but sadly not.....
As I said in another thread.... I hope Tomlin starts, however I highly doubt he will. Warnock is far to wiley for that, he knows as every City fan does from last season, that when he tries to beat one man to many or thread an impossible needle pass and neither come of it leaves the whole side open to a counter attack, which this season with our pace we have been very good at. Add to that that he dosent track back very well, I just can't see him starting and will only come on if Cardiff have a couple of goal cushion. Warnock will pack the midfield and play for the draw using all his usual time wasting and game disrupting tactics, as he has at every club he's been at, it's what he does best! He won't come to play football because he knows how dangerous we can be if he does that, he will for sure look for his team to hit the deck whenever their within 30 yards of goal so he can load free kicks into their bigger players such as Bamba to try and bully our players cause us problems, which is why we need Baker to be fit to play alongside Flint to handle that threat.
Johnson added: “We know what to expect. They will be physical and the ‘ball in play’ stats are amongst the lowest in the division
