Ahead of our first away day of the season we spoke to Tom from One Team In Bristol about our opponents and what we can expect on the day.
You finished 17th last season, do you think you guys will finish higher up the table this season?
I think there is general optimism that a top half finish could be possible. A completely non-eventful 12th place would probably be seen as progress.
How’s your transfer window been so far? Have you gotten stronger or lost any key players?
The key thing has been hanging onto Alex Scott & Antoine Semenyo (ex SAFC of course) who are destined for the Premier League. It’s really a case of holding onto them for as long as possible. Otherwise, the signing of Kal Naithsmith from Luton seems very astute business. Mark Sykes and Kane Wilson are good signings from the lower leagues and hopefully will develop over time.
Andreas Weimann got 22 goals last season and has already scored this season, what’s his best attribute?
He’s a tireless worker, with pace to burn and a very good finisher. It’s unusual to expect anything but a goal if he gets one-on-one with the keeper. It’s good that he's on the wrong side of 30, otherwise I think we’d have struggled to keep him this summer.
What style of football do Bristol City play?
There is an emphasis on wingbacks in a 3-5-2 formation but also on the break. Antoine Semenyo is a key part of that and him being out for the first few games of the season means we perhaps play it up to Chris Martin a bit more directly to hold it up for Scott/Weimann to run off.
How do you see Saturday playing out? What's your score prediction?
It would be nice to see our season up and running with a win but I think we might have to settle for a 1-1 draw.
Do any Sunderland players worry you?
As we have a habit of seeing old players score against us Bailey Wright will probably rise like a salmon to head home from a corner. I think the obvious worry otherwise will be Ross Stewart who was clearly amongst the best players in League One last season.
Where do you think Sunderland will finish?
Coming up from L1 seems to go one of two ways – a good top half finish flirting with the play-offs (see Luton) or just going straight back down (see Wigan, Rotherham, Peterborough etc). I wouldn’t be surprised to see you finish in the top 10.
