The Preview | Bristol City vs Wolves

Following three homes games on the bounce, Wolves will look to maintain their Molineux form on the road this week, with Wednesday evening seeing the side head to Bristol City.

Roll call

Cesar Peixoto has seen several of his players back in training this week ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Bristol, with recent absentees Nasser Djiga, Bertrand Traore and Boubacar Traore all providing further options of the Portuguese. Jordan James is unlikely to be able to recover from the injury which saw him taken off after half an hour in the win over Cardiff City at the weekend, while Ghislain Konan remains sidelined and Raul Jimenez is still in long-term recovery following surgery.

Bristol City boss Michael Skubala hopes striker Lorent Tolaj will be able to feature against Wolves in midweek having got through training ahead of the Championship match-up having come off late in the Robins’ win over Bolton Wanderers on Saturday. The striker has been taken off in both games since returning from a muscle injury which kept him out of three fixtures last month, with Skubala saying the striker had to take painkillers to play the Bolton match. Absentees from Saturday’s game include Rob Dickie, who is back in training, Elijah Adebayo is closer to returning, Gibson Yan is expected to miss midweek with a knock and Noah Elie has an illness.

The form guide

The Old Gold won three of their last four outings in October, following up an away victory over Burnley with a draw at home to Portsmouth, before successive wins over Watford and Cardiff. Saturday’s win over the team from South Wales was by the biggest margin of victory, as goals from Fer Lopez, Adam Armtstong and Ladislav Krejci – all headed finishes – Peixoto’s side run out 3-0 winners. Now the question is whether they can replicate their home form at Ashton Gate on Wednesday evening.

Bristol City ended a disappointing run of results since the last international break by coming from 2-1 down with 10 minutes remaining away at Bolton to clinch a last-second 3-2 victory. Before the weekend, the Robins had found wins hard to come by, securing points away at Charlton Athletic and away to Stoke City, while falling to defeat against Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield United – both at Ashton Gate.

#BRCWOL
Extended Highlights | Wolves 3-0 Cardiff City

The past with the Robins

A couple of cup ties have taken place between Wolves and Bristol City over the last few years, but the most recent league meeting between the teams was a memorable one during Wolves’ 2017/18 promotion-winning campaign. Despite going down to 10 men early on at Ashton Gate on 30th December when Danny Batth was dismissed and a goal down when Bobby De Cordova-Reid opened the scoring, Wolves fought back following a red card of the hosts. Barry Douglas’ superb free-kick made it 1-1 before Ryan Bennett’s stoppage time winner saw a sent-off Nuno Espirito Santo go wild in the stands. The result cemented Wolves as one of the favourites for the Championship title.

After the game, Nuno told wolves.co.uk: “The game was so emotional and particularly hard for me. I was sent off and went to the stand, and being there, you cannot really help the team. What I felt was a big joy, a tremendous moment of happiness when ‘Benno’ scored and Barry put the perfect ball on the second post. It was so important for us in that moment that I could not contain myself. I try to follow my instincts and sometimes I know I make mistakes, but at the same time I apologise when I have to and try to avoid them in the future. I love football and I love my team.”

Wolves | Ruddy, Doherty, Batth, Coady, Boly, Douglas, Neves, Saiss, Costa (Cavaleiro 62), Jota (Enobakhare 88), Bonatini (Bennett 17).