Bristol City head back to Ashton Gate on Saturday in the midst of a pleasing run of Championship form, having moved into a strong position in their bid for a top-half finish with a six-game unbeaten streak.
A dismal run between mid-February and mid-March, producing five defeats and a single victory in a six-match span, left the Robins on 47 points from 38 outings, but they have since bounced back in style and built an improved end to the term, firstly recording consecutive 1-0 wins over first-placed Leicester City and Plymouth Argyle.
Then following a goalless draw away at Sunderland, Liam Manning’s side returned to winning ways in style by thrashing Blackburn Rovers 5-0 on home turf, thanks to braces from Tommy Conway and Nahki Wells and an Anis Mehmeti goal, before playing out consecutive draws heading into the penultimate league game of the season on Saturday.
After hosting relegation-threatened Huddersfield Town and snatching a point from a 1-1 draw thanks to Wells’s penalty deep into injury time, the Robins most recently visited Carrow Road to meet sixth-placed Norwich City on Saturday and again took a share of the spoils as the contest ended level at a goal apiece, with Haydon Roberts opening the scoring early in the second half only for Borja Sainz to instantly equalise for the hosts.
With confidence rising in the camp following another pleasing result, having moved into 12th spot with a three-point lead over 13th-placed Sunderland thanks to their upturn in form, Bristol City will now bid to continue their impressive run into the end of the term under Manning and seal a top-half finish with a home triumph.
They meet a Rotherham United side also keen to end their season on a high in the final two rounds of games, having already had their relegation back to League One confirmed in the midst of a difficult season.
The Millers have spent the majority of their second in a two-season stay in England’s second tier in the bottom three, and after Leam Richardson replaced Matt Taylor in the dugout in mid-December, they were unable to produce an improvement to climb towards safety and saw their fate sealed in a 1-0 home defeat to Plymouth Argyle earlier this month.
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That left them on 23 points from 41 outings, and following two further losses at the hands of West Bromwich Albion and Swansea City, Richardson would depart to be replaced by returning Millers boss Steve Evans, who last led the South Yorkshire outfit in 2015 after guiding them to two promotions between League Two and the Championship.
His second tenure began with a home meeting against Birmingham City on Saturday, and in a game delayed by an emergency in the stands, the Millers came away with a share of the spoils from a goalless draw.
Now confined to a 24th-placed finish with just 24 points on the board and two league games remaining, Rotherham United will bid to bow out on a positive note under their new boss with a pair of more pleasing results before beginning another bid for promotion next term.
