Bristol City face Portsmouth in their final preparations before the 2023/24 Championship season starts.
The Robins are unbeaten, having beaten the likes of Exeter City, Swindon Town, Newport County, and Torquay United at the High-Performance Centre. City’s squad depth has been on show as they’ve been able to name two strong XI’s in most games.
Portsmouth will pose a good test to Bristol City ahead of their opener against Preston North End on Saturday, August 5. Pompey have ambitions of getting promoted to the Championship and have recruited well, signing Bristol City-linked Regan Poole, as well as other players.
Tomorrow’s team may give us a hint as to what we can expect against Preston, but also gives us some questions. Sometimes whatever team is named in their final friendly is likely the opening day XI, and in other cases it’s one final audition for players who are on the fringes of a starting berth.
Nigel Pearson isn’t a manager that likes to chop and change too much and he may have a team already in mind against the Lilywhites, but his mind can always be changed if he thinks a player is performing better than the other if they play in the same position.
As for team news against Portsmouth, both Tommy Conway and Zak Vyner were withdrawn for precautionary measures against Cheltenham Town. Kal Naismith has not featured much this pre-season whilst Rob Atkinson and Ayman Benarous are recovering from their ACL injuries. Summer signing Ross McCrorie is also nursing a knock and might not play against his former club.
Below is the starting XI we think Pearson should go with at Fratton Park. The game will be streamed both on Portsmouth’s iFollow and on Robins TV, with kick-off at 3.00 pm in Hampshire.
9. RW: Mark Sykes
Probably at the moment the best right-sided midfielder at the club. All the new signings and other options are good, but Sykes could have a good campaign this year. | Getty Images Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images
10. ST: Tommy Conway
Conway and Wells have both been prolific in pre-season, and next week is going to be a major dilemma for Nigel Pearson. A youthful attack is something I’d like to see against Pompey. | Getty Images Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images
11. LW: Sam Bell
Performed well in pre-season and chipped in with a few goals and assists. It’d be good to see him alongside academy graduates Conway and Scott. | Getty Images Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images