Bristol City predicted team vs Birmingham: Hodgson faces stick or twist call

The Reds' trip to the Midlands comes at the end of what has been the final three-game week of the campaign. Having kicked off the last fortnight of the season with a disappointing home defeat to Norwich last weekend, City got back on their feet at Southampton.

What has since proven to be a brace from Sam Bell saw the Robins share the points with the Saints in a 2-2 draw at St Mary's on Tuesday evening. Hodgson's side twice led on the south coast, but on both occasions, the home team were able to pull level.

For this afternoon's opponents, midweek was slightly more fruitful. Birmingham were able to stretch their recent unbeaten run in England's second tier to three games as they claimed all three points against Preston North End at St Andrew's on Wednesday evening.

Jay Stansfield's opener early in the first half was followed by an Ibrahim Osman strike on the quarter of an hour mark to ensure that Andrew Hughes' goal was little more than a consolation as Blues ran out 2-1 winners. With that win, they sit 10th in the table, two places and one point ahead of City.

Judging by the league table, this afternoon's clash should be a competitive contest between two teams with little more than pride to play for. The Reds' hopes of coming out on top and leapfrogging Chris Davies' side in the table will be boosted by the return of Adam Randell from injury.

Although the Robins remain without the likes of Max Bird, Joe Williams, Rob Atkinson and Luke McNally, Hodgson has perhaps the most competitive squad of his tenure at his disposal currently.

With that in mind, he faces a stick or twist decision this afternoon. Here is how we think he'll set City up at St Andrew's...

At St Mary's on Tuesday evening, it was Bristol City’s attacking performance that really caught the eye. At the other end of the field, however, the Robins, and in particular, Radek Vitek, went about their business well to keep a potent Southampton side quiet.

The Manchester United loanee pulled off two brilliant second-half saves to deny both Cameron Archer and Shea Charles. While it wasn't enough, in the end, to secure all three points for Roy Hodgson's side, it will have almost certainly been enough for Vitek to keep his place in the Reds' starting line-up at St Andrew's.

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Ahead of the 22-year-old, our expectation is that the interim head coach will continue to utilise a back four, and we predict that it will look very similar, in terms of personnel, to the one that started on the south coast in midweek.

There is, of course, a chance that Rob Dickie could return to the starting line-up, having made a brief cameo from the bench against the Saints. However, our bet is that it will once again be Neto Borges who partners Noah Eile in central defence, which will also allow Cam Pring to continue at left-back.

On the right of the back four, this afternoon may well be the game in which George Tanner is afforded a start, given the quick turnaround over the course of the last week. While we wouldn't be shocked to see the 26-year-old in from the off, we're going to back Ross McCrorie to keep his place on this occasion.

The absence of Adam Randell against Southampton will have made it rather easy for Roy Hodgson to pick Bristol City's midfield on Tuesday evening. With Max Bird and Joe Williams also sidelined, pushing Jason Knight into a more central role alongside Sam Morsy was the obvious decision.

However, with Randell back in training ahead of this afternoon's game, things have become a bit harder to predict in the middle of the park. Will Hodgson stick or twist after what he felt was the best performance of his interim tenure so far?

Now, we're almost certainly going to end up with egg on our face here, but our prediction is that Randell will start on the bench while Knight and Morsy both keep their places. When possible, Hodgson isn't one to change a winning team, and that seems unlikely to change at this stage of his career.

Similar logic can be applied when it comes to who starts on the right wing. Sam Bell was the Robins' star-boy at St Mary's, and having scored three goals in City's last two matches, it will come as a shock to most if he doesn't keep his place ahead of Mark Sykes, who we expect to remain on the bench.

On the left, our bet is that Scott Twine will get the nod. The 26-year-old could move more centrally if Knight is thrust out wide to accommodate Randell, but it feels more likely that he will remain on the flank, especially after he picked up an assist against the Saints last time out.

I'd imagine this will be the section of today's predicted team to cause the most debate. What had, up until Tuesday evening, been the easiest section of the side for most Bristol City fans to guess has now become a bit of a lottery after the draw with Southampton.

On the south coast, Roy Hodgson opted to hand both Tomi Horvat and Delano Burgzorg their first starts since he took interim charge. Both players impressed, with the former assisting Sam Bell's second goal and the latter's display being labelled "outstanding" by his head coach after the full-time whistle.

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As a result, we would not be at all shocked if both players were to feature from the off against Birmingham City this afternoon. However, predicting an unchanged side feels more than a little dull at the end of a three-game week, so we're going to go out on a limb slightly.

Our bet is that Horvat will continue in attacking midfield. The Slovenian international has been bright since he arrived in the West Country and seemingly appears to sit ahead of George Earthy in the pecking order at this moment in time. Of course, judging by events in midweek, the West Ham loanee could be thrust into the team out of nowhere.

Up front, though, we're going to go rogue and suggest Sinclair Armstrong will lead the line. We could be wide of the mark with this prediction, but Hodgson has aimed to give those who have been on the fringes opportunities since he came in, and the Ireland international feels like the next player deserving of such a chance.

That would leave Emil Riis and Burgzorg to offer an alternative from the bench. The Middlesbrough loanee was out on his feet at full-time on Tuesday, so we'd be slightly surprised if he were to start once more.

Bristol City predicted XI (4-4-1-1): Radek Vitek; Ross McCrorie, Noah Eile, Neto Borges, Cam Pring; Sam Bell, Sam Morsy, Jason Knight, Scott Twine; Tomi Horvat; Sinclair Armstrong