Is a top-six finish achievable for Bristol City?

There’s been plenty of positives for Bristol City supporters to witness this season. Yet there have also been some frustrating setbacks, which mean there’s still work to do if they’re to mount a serious push for promotion into the Premier League.

The Robins are currently sat 12th in the Championship table, and have lacked consistency at times in this year’s campaign. This means they’re not quite at their best level heading into the potentially season-defining festive period, which could dictate which direction their season heads in. They’ve not played in the top-flight of English football since the 1979/80 campaign, so they’ve yet to be involved in the rebranded Premier League.

Liam Manning guided Bristol City to their highest finish in the Championship in the last five years, as they finished 11th in the second-tier standings. There’s been glimpses of Bristol City’s quality, with away wins over Norwich City and Middlesbrough being the standout results to date.

But they’re lacking that momentum at this moment in time, with defeats to Watford and relegation-threatened Portsmouth irritating the Bristol City supporters, who’ll be desperate to see their side force themselves into the play-off positions over the coming months.

It’s certainly an achievable aim, as Bristol City have shown they can compete with teams in and around the top-six. They shared the spoils with Leeds United in a goalless draw earlier this season, and if they can start finding some consistency in their performances, then you’d be brave to count them out of the race for promotion into the Premier League, despite odds of 33/1 converting into just a 3% chance.

The defensive pairing of Rob Dickie and Luke McNally still have their best days ahead of them, and they certainly suit the possession-based style which we’ve seen from Manning’s side this year. There’s real attacking quality in this Bristol City team if they can find their groove heading towards the New Year.

Jason Knight and Max Bird are another pairing in this Bristol City starting XI that also catch the eye for, whilst the likes of Scott Twine, Anis Mehmeti, and Yu Hirakawa are more likely to cause opposition defences problems than not.

With Manning guiding Bristol City to their best finish in the Championship in his first year in charge of the club, there’s absolutely no reason why he can’t build on that this season, especially with some inconsistencies from the teams in and around the play-off picture.

The next month in particular will be pivotal to see where Bristol City are heading, as they’ve got a favourable run of fixtures, taking on the likes of Luton Town, Plymouth Argyle, Derby County, and Coventry City, all of which have struggled for much of this year’s campaign.

If they can keep their key players injury-free, The Robins are likely to be one of the dark horses in the race for promotion.