PREVIEW: Bristol City target Play-Off momentum in Championship clash with Watford | OneFootball

Two play-off hopefuls will clash at Ashton Gate tomorrow night as Bristol City host Watford in the Championship, in a huge game for both sides’ season.

This will be the third time these two sides have met this season, with the aggregate score thus far 6-1 to Bristol City, following a 1-1 draw at Vicarage Road in the league.

The Robins cruised past The Hornets in the Emirates FA Cup 3rd Round back in January, courtesy of a hat-trick from Emil Riis Jakobsen.

City picked up a huge 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers in midweek, whilst Watford suffered a 2-0 defeat at home to high-flying Ipswich Town.

These results mean that City find themselves eighth in the Championship table, whilst Watford sit two points behind in twelfth as both sides continue to try and maintain a play-off push. However, neither can move into a top-six spot tomorrow night, as Wrexham are currently four points inside those spots.

Friday night will be the 106th meeting between these sides, with the spoils fairly even over the first 105 matches, 40 have ended in Bristol City wins, whilst Watford have won 32 and 33 have ended in a draw.

Watford haven’t won at Ashton Gate since March 2012, when they picked up a 2-0 victory thanks to a goal from Sean Murray and an own goal from the Robins goalkeeper at the time, David James.

City defender Liam Fontaine was also sent off that day, late into the second half. Since then, Watford have visited South Bristol seven times, with four of those ending in draws and three ending with a win for the hosts.

Both teams have been inconsistent as of late, with Watford only winning one of their last five games and Bristol City winning just two. They have both also suffered two losses in that time.

However, a win for the visitors would see them leapfrog Gerhard Struber’s side in the table.

Edward Still, brother of Will, is the man in charge of Watford, having been appointed in recent weeks. So far, he has beaten Derby County, drawn with Preston North End, and, as previously mentioned, lost to Ipswich Town in his time as Hornets boss.

Gerhard Struber spoke with the media ahead of this game, stating that defender Rob Atkinson will be sidelined with an ankle injury for “around 10 weeks, so this is, of course, a really big hit for us, for the team and, of course, also for Rob. We have to deal with that.” Atksinons sustained the injury in the latter stages of the first half on Tuesday night following a bad tackle from Yuki Ohashi.

The game will take place on Friday, February 27th, and kick-off is scheduled for 8pm (UK Time)