Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson will be reluctant to make too many changes to a winning side but given a busy schedule over the next month, he will have to utilise his squad.
The Robins head into tonight's game as one of the in-form teams in the Championship. Still unbeaten in 2023, it will be 10 games without defeat if they pick up a result against Wigan.
Pearson will be wary about the expectancy of picking up three points against a side who have massively struggled throughout the season. However, after sacking Kolo Tore following just 58 days in charge, there have been green shoots of revival.
Under Shaun Maloney, they followed up a decent point away at Blackburn with a crucial victory over Huddersfield at the weekend - their first win in the league for three months.
Three points for City at Ashton Gate will see them move up to 11th as they continue to slowly chip away at that gap between the play-offs. A trip to in-form Sunderland awaits on Saturday and therefore Pearson may be tempted to rest a couple of players having maintained a consistent starting XI over the last six weeks.
Here's how we think City could shape up his evening with three changes to the team that beat Norwich at the weekend.
Goalkeeper and defence
A clean sheet in the victory over Norwich at the weekend is only extra evidence to suggest Pearson is going to stick with the same back five that continues to build a rapport and a solid foundation.
Max O'Leary, albeit with a few wayward kicks, was once again faultless against the Canaries as the visitors were limited to just one strike on target. That was down to the superb work of his team-mates in front of him, who left it all out on the pitch to secure the three points.
Pearson described George Tanner as having his best game in a City shirt at right-back as he continues to evolve as a player and adapt to playing regularly in the Championship. Alongside him, Rob Atkinson and Zak Vyner are complimenting each other with consistency having also managed to eradicate mistakes that have held City back over the last 12 months.
It's likely to be the same defensive structure as the weekend with Cam Pring, who was also superb against Norwich, slotting in at left-back. His assist for Mark Sykes epitomised the attributes in his game with his pace, anticipation and vision to pick out the in-form winger.
That means Tomas Kalas will be on the bench again as he awaits his first start of the season alongside Jay Dasilva with both players proving more than adequate back-up if required.
Midfield
Here's where it could start getting interesting. We'll start with the certainty and that's Matty James will continue to start in the midfield with both Alex Scott and Pearson speaking really highly of him during their pre-match press conferences.
The City manager isn't blessed with options in the middle, especially with Kal Naismith ruled out for "a few weeks" with a calf injury. Joe Williams came into the side for his first start since Boxing Day against Norwich and produced a dogged display, encapsulated by a brilliant block on the edge of his own area in the 93rd minute.
He may feel he has to use this period to stake his case to start matches and given he's now fit enough to play three matches in a week, he'll likely keep his place in the side. Although, similarly with Scott, there's an argument for resting them ahead of the trip to Sunderland at the weekend.
Both players are on nine yellow cards and therefore are one game away from a two-match league suspension. Given the difficult trip to Sunderland at the weekend, Pearson may not one to risk losing both of his midfielders and leave himself short for a game that he will want to be full strength for.
He was asked about the possibility of resting Scott in his pre-match press conference to which he responded: "Yes and no. So is Joe. You'll see tomorrow. I suppose so is the answer to that, what I don't want to do is stop people from being what they are. When you start making players overly conscious of it. We deal with injuries so we'll have to deal with suspensions."
Therefore, club captain Andi Weimann would likely come in for Scott to play in that No10 role while Andy King is the most suitable replacement for Williams. It could very well be the case where one starts and the other comes off the bench if required later in the game.
Strikers
Once again, there could be changes in the attacking department and the opportunity to rest one or two players against a side that, on paper, City should be beating. Sam Bell, Nahki Wells and Mark Sykes have been superb as a trio with the latter scoring his fifth goal in his last six matches on Saturday.
Both Bell and Wells were substituted on the hour mark against the Canaries and couldn't really influence the game in a similar way they have been doing over the past few weeks. With the January signings of Anis Mehmeti and Harry Cornick, Pearson now has plenty of options in the attack if he wants to switch it up.
That's likely to be the case tonight and it would represent an ideal opportunity to bring the duo in for their full debuts. Although Pearson will be reluctant to make too many changes to a side that have gone nine unbeaten, City do have a relatively hectic run of fixtures approaching.
They have seven games in the next 24 days including that FA Cup match with Manchester City and therefore rotation will be paramount. Mehmeti looked bright on his debut at the weekend and looks as though he'll have no teething problems fitting into the style of play.
Likewise with Cornick, his 30-minute cameo was positive and was full of energy although he did appear to look leggy in the final five minutes of the game. If the 27-year-old does come in, he'll replace Wells in the middle who may feel a rest could do him good looking towards the Black Cats.
He's started the last eight matches in all competitions and has one goal in his last 10 matches, although his contribution to his team-mates has been invaluable.
Bristol City (4-3-3, probable): Max O’Leary; George Tanner, Zak Vyner, Rob Atkinson, Cam Pring; Joe Williams, Matty James, Andi Weimann; Mark Sykes, Harry Cornick, Anis Mehmeti
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