Bristol City get their pre-season schedule underway with a friendly against former Championship rivals Reading on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Royals are back in action after making a losing start to their summer fixture list at the weekend.
Match preview
A 14th-placed finish in last season's Championship would have divided opinion among the Bristol City fanbase, with the split derived from their final position having the potential to be worse at one stage.
Nevertheless, Nigel Pearson knows that he needs to provide an improved effort in 2023-24 to justify his spot in the dugout, putting him and the club under pressure to deliver in the transfer market.
As it stands, it is so far so good, with Pearson being able to sign Rob Dickie, Ross McCrorie and Hayden Roberts from Queens Park Rangers, Aberdeen and Brighton & Hove Albion respectively in order to improve his backline.
Additions will be made further forward in due course, possibly helped by the funds which may be generated from the big-money departure of Alex Scott.
This game represents the first of seven that the Robins have during pre-season, although there are two occasions when Bristol City are performing a double-header.
From the perspective of Reading, newly-appointed boss Ruben Selles has taken on the unenviable task of trying to earn an immediate return to the Championship when restricted in the transfer market.
The former Southampton boss cannot sign new players until a tax bill has been paid to HMRC, effectively leaving the Spaniard in a position where he must promote a batch of academy prospects.
A team, which Reading themselves acknowledged as "youthful", suffered a 1-0 defeat to AFC Wimbledon during a friendly in Spain at the weekend, yet it at least gave Selles the opportunity to take a look at the talent at his disposal.
The same players are expected to be available for this contest with Selles hoping that extra match fitness will aid their cause against their second-tier opponents.
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Team News
Pearson has spoken of Bristol City enjoyed a productive training camp in Austria in an effort to try to get up to speed for this contest.
Barring any fitness issues, Pearson will hope to hand action on the pitch to all of his senior players with the new Championship campaign now less than a month away.
Amid interest from the Premier League, Scott's game time may be restricted, although Pearson currently needs to work as though the young Englishman will start the season at Ashton Gate.
Meanwhile, Selles named two separate sides for the game with AFC Wimbledon, with his senior crop all featuring during the first half aside from goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis.
With this being a behind-closed-doors friendly, Selles may take the opportunity to mix and match, allowing for the club's academy players to try to up their level against established Championship opposition.
We say: Bristol City 2-2 Reading
Having already got some game time in their legs, Selles and his squad will be confident of getting back on track against their higher-level opponents. However, we see the Robins having enough in the tank to claim a share of the spoils in what could turn out to be an entertaining fixture.
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