‘All to play for’ as City return to Ashton Gate

It will be City’s first return to Ashton Gate for a competitive fixture since March 7^th and the squad have been training in BS3 lately, as they look to get used to the change in atmosphere and protocols in place at the stadium.

“It’s going to be strange but again there are no excuses,” Head Coach Johnson said, with the season continuing without supporters in the stands. “It was strange at Blackburn but we didn’t have an excuse.

“We always want to play in front of our fans. We’ve tried to replicate what will be the match conditions by training at the stadium as much as possible. We’ve been through the protocols of the pre-match: video in the concourse, food at home. The players have to almost go back to the old-school and prepare themselves really professionally for the games.

“All the staff have gone beyond the call of duty to make the players feel safe. It feels we are coming through this but we must make sure we are vigilant o the protocols for the players’ safety.”

After the defeat at Ewood Park, City’s first Sky Bet Championship encounter since the season resumed, Johnson wants to see a step up in performance and has been encouraged by the levels shown in training this week.

“The ball hasn’t changed, the pitch size hasn’t changed and the grass hasn’t changed! …there’s no excuses, we have to go out there and beat Sheffield Wednesday and put in an aggressive senior performance.

“We had a home-truths session and the players were good. They have been fantastic as have the staff but there were just too many errors [at Blackburn]. We have moved on from that now, we’ve had three good days of training, it’s been aggressive and on the front foot, so it’s up to the boys who will be selected as we cross the white line to bring their best performance.”

The visit of the Owls this Sunday is the first of final eight scheduled Championship fixtures before the play-offs are decided and the Robins head coach knows what’s at stake in the run-in.

He continued: “It’s all to play for and it’s a fine line. We have to remember the past, learn from it and absolutely go and implement what we need to. This isn’t a must-win game but they all feel like it. So we must go and put in a really good performance to go and give us every opportunity to win the match against Sheffield Wednesday.”

STREAMING OPTIONS FOR CITY V SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY

Fans are reminded that as Sunday's lunchtime fixture will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, the club is unable to sell £10 matchday stream passes to non-Season Card holders. Season Card holders have exclusive streaming access this weekend, however, audio passes are available to non-Season Card holders for just £2.50.

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