Both Bristol City and West Bromwich Albion will be looking to return to winning ways in the Championship when the two teams lock horns on Saturday afternoon.

West Brom are still top of the table despite being held by Nottingham Forest last weekend, while Bristol City suffered a 1-0 defeat away to Leeds United in their last fixture.

Match preview

Bristol City are still very much in the playoff argument at this stage despite suffering defeats to Birmingham City and Leeds in their two of their last three Championship matches.

Indeed, a total of 53 points from 33 matches has left them in seventh spot in the table, level on points with sixth-placed Preston North End with 13 games left.

Bristol City are only three points off Fulham in third, meanwhile, and have beaten Barnsley and Derby County in two of their last three Championship matches in front of their own supporters.

The Robins also beat West Brom in the corresponding match last season, although they have lost three of their last four matches against the Baggies in all competitions, including a 4-1 defeat when they travelled to The Hawthorns for the reverse match at the end of November.

West Brom came close to making it four straight Championship victories last weekend as they led Forest 2-1 in the latter stages of their clash at The Hawthorns.

Matty Cash came up with a stoppage-time leveller for the visitors, though, as Slaven Bilic's side missed the chance to open up a six-point lead at the summit.

The Baggies are still four points clear of second-placed Leeds, though, and having only lost four of their 33 matches this season, they have been the best that the Championship have to offer.

It is difficult to imagine West Brom collapsing from this position, but there is no question that they will face a tough examination of their promotion credentials at Ashton Gate on Saturday afternoon.

Bristol City Championship form: WWWLWL

West Brom Championship form: LLWWWD
West Brom form (all competitions): WLWWWD

Team News

Bristol City boss Lee Johnson is expected to recall Famara Diedhiou to his starting XI for Saturday's contest, while Filip Benkovic will also be hoping to earn a spot in the side having overcome a calf issue.

There are not expected to be too many changes from the side that suffered a 1-0 defeat at Leeds, though, with Nakhi Wells certain to keep his position in attack.

Benik Afobe could return to training next week having recovered from a serious knee injury, although the 27-year-old is not expected to be considered for selection for the foreseeable future.

Diedhiou was among a number of players to be hit with a sickness bug in the build-up to the Leeds clash, but Johnson's selection issues have allegedly improved as the week has progressed.

As for West Brom, Grady Diangana and Nathan Ferguson are still unavailable for selection through injury, but Kieran Gibbs has returned to training alongside Gareth Barry and Chris Brunt.

Hal Robson-Kanu has struggled for goals in recent weeks but is expected to keep his spot in attack due to his work-rate, with Callum Robinson also featuring in the final third of the field.

Matt Phillips, Charlie Austin and Kamil Grosicki are also options in attack, but Ahmed Hegazi is expected to start on the bench once again due to the form of Kyle Bartley and Semi Ajayi.

Bristol City possible starting lineup:
Bentley; Kalas, Williams, Benkovic, Dasilva; Eliasson, Massengo, Henriksen, Paterson; Wells, Diedhiou

West Brom possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; O'Shea, Ajayi, Bartley, Townsend; Krovinovic, Sawyers, Livermore; Robinson, Robson-Kanu, Pereira

We say: Bristol City 1-2 West Brom

Bristol City's run of five wins in their last seven Championship matches deserves a lot of respect, but West Brom have proved to be the best team in the league thus far this season. We are expecting a very close match at Ashton Gate with the Baggies just having enough to pick up all three points.