Bristol City v Carlisle

Bristol City host Carlisle in the third round of the Carling Cup at Ashton Gate this evening. City have not progressed past the third round of the competition in twenty years so tonight welcomes a perfect opportunity to start a cup run and put the weekend defeat to Cardiff in the past.

Home fans will undoubtedly enjoy progressing to the next round of the cup, but most are likely to mirror Gary Johnson`s hopes, that a win tonight will give the squad a boost of confidence going into Saturday`s game with promotion contenders Middlesbrough. On being heavy favourites for the win, Johnson commented:

“We want to do well in front of our home supporters and we want to progress in the Carling Cup. We also want to go into the Middlesbrough league game on Saturday win a win under our belts”.

City trio Clarkson, Nyatanga and Orr are set to miss out due to the illness currently affecting the club, but Carey could make a return to the team after missing the defeat last weekend.

Akinde is likely to feature in the absence of Clarkson, and many supporters will be keen to see how the young forward can perform in front of the home crowd. City looked impotent going forwards against Cardiff at the weekend, and with some strike options currently training with the club, a good show of attacking football would be icing on the cake if City can pull off a victory.

Key player: John Akinde. The big forward can help to fill the void left by the departing Adebola, and although many would like to see a departure from ‘hoofball’, if Akinde can show confidence in receiving and holding the ball for our other strikers he could possibly help Gary Johnson in his hunt for a new forward.

Prediction: 3-1 City. Carlisle seem to play better away from home and with nothing to lose they could poach a goal or two but if City can push forward with confidence and pace we should prove too much for the League One side.