Smoulderwood is almost certain not to risk Junior Agogo and Danny Cullip, both of whom pulled up with hamstring injuries in the weekend victory over Millwall. The seriousness of the injuries is as yet unclear, but frankly if there’s any small risk then it isn’t worth it. I imagine he may also decide to rest Paul Smith and give Rune Pedersen a run out, although depending on the complicated ”must field six players who’ve played in the majority of league games” rule, Colin may choose to rest other key players.
Nathan Tyson must be a reasonable bet for a starting place, and I’m sure Grant Holt will also fancy his chances of making the starting eleven. So far it’s a competition that Smoulders has taken seriously, fielding often more than the required six players – and Bristol City are definitely the biggest challenge we have faced yet in the tournament, indeed, I would suggest they’re the strongest team left in it aside from Forest. So get these out the way and – so long as we avoid complacency – then reaching the final isn’t a realistic aim.
We have met Bristol City not all that long ago, of course, when a Nicky Southall freekick was enough to secure a 1-0 victory for the mighty Reds in a hotly contested battle with the carrot-crunchers. That game took place in a firey atmosphere, with just the Main Stand open and a few hundred (if that) fans from Bristol nestled in the away end, I can’t see that being quite so prevalent this time around – I imagine the proprietors of Amici’s on Radcliffe Road will be relieved!
Gary Johnson, the Bristol manager, recently said the league was far from over – shrewd bloke, isn’t he? Coming out with that in November! Of course, he’s right – but a decent win in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy over who I still consider to be our main league rivals would be no bad thing; it would keep our unbeaten run alive, and put a sizable dent in their confidence. Ultimately, we’ve proven we can beat them once – we can do it again, but it wasn’t exactly a comfortable win in the league – so we need to have our wits about us.
Filed under: News
