Welcome to Wednesday's Bristol City live blog.
It certainly won't feel like hump day for the Robins who will be riding a wave of optimism following an impressive away victory over Derby County on Tuesday night.
City ran out 2-1 winners, with Andi Weimann and Josh Brownhill's goals enough to see off the Rams.
The Robins will consider it revenge for the defeat to Frank Lampard's Derby side at the back end of last season that put paid to their play-off hopes.
Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Ashley Williams has been on trial with Lee Johnson's side, but the head coach said it is not definite he will sign.
Adam Nagy has been ruled out for three or four weeks with an ankle injury.
Updates on all of that and more in the live blog below
Key Events
Loan for Hull man
Hull centre-back Lewis Ritson has joined Blyth Spartans on loan until January.
The POWER rankings!
We’ve had a go at ranking the Bristol City squad so far this season based on form, injuries, fan opinion and more.
Bristol City are revelling in the satisfaction of back-to-back victories having kick-started their season following a defeat and a draw in the opening two games of their Championship campaign.
The Robins comfortably beat Queens Park Rangers on Saturday before registering an impressive 2-1 away to potential play-off rivals Derby County on Tuesday night.
Andi Weimann and Kasey Palmer have been the standout players in both wins, while new signings Adam Nagy and Benik Afobe have also impressed.
- Read the full story here
Rui Fonte leaves Fulham
Rui Fonte has left Fulham on a free transfer and returned to Sporting Braga.
The 29-year old failed to secure a regular first-team slot during his two years at Craven Cottage, scoring just three goals in 27 appearances since joining in 2017 for a fee believed to be around £7m.
Giggs on leaving out Ashley Williams
Ryan Giggs has explained why he left Ashley Williams out of the Wales squad - and confirmed he is on the way to City.
“Regarding the players, obviously the big one is Ash, he’s not involved in the squad,” said Giggs.
“He’s yet to find a club, I think he’s more or less signed for Bristol City, I know he’s in talks with them. He’s not done a pre-season.
“I spoke with Ash last week and he was fine about it. It wasn’t a surprise to him. He hasn’t let me down, and he’s been brilliant for me as a captain on and off the pitch.
“It wasn’t an easy decision but we have players who are playing, especially in his position so I’m just being fair to those players really. If he plays games then he’ll be involved.”
Another international call-up
Callum O’Dowda has been named in Ireland’s provisional squad for their September games against Switzerland and Bulgaria.
No guarantee the Bristol City will actually feature, mind.
That’s because Mick McCarrthy has named a FORTY man provisional squad.
He’s left himself a lot to do when it comes to cutting wheat from the chaff.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen between now and the next couple of games,” stated McCarthy as he named his extended squad. “We’ve got Saturday games, Tuesday games, Saturday and then the Saturday before me meet up. Players could get injured before we meet up.”
How the opposition boss saw last night
“It was a costly start to the game,” Phillip Cocu said to Derbyshire Live. “I don’t like excuses. I don’t know why, full stadium, great atmosphere, fantastic pitch - but I am missing something in the start of the game.
“After we conceded a goal, I saw a reaction in the team. We have to start this way, in the attitude and the pressing.
“I saw that after the goal. After the second mistake, we were 2-0 down, it was a big blow. Also, we could not convert our chances on goal.
“We had maybe three 100 per cent chances, so you are chasing your opponent all the game.
“The second half was much better in the way we presented ourselves, the way we played, the attitude. Still we made some mistakes, but for me it was different.
“We got back in the game. I said if we can score one, it is always possible here to get a draw or maybe even a win, and I think I was right.
“We were close to an equaliser after a fantastic goal from Jack Marriott.”
Lansdown's message
It is not often we hear from the City owner about matters on the pitch, especially on social media.
So a three-word tweet last night managed to sum up the feelings of most City fans following the victory over Derby County.
It also could well sum up the feelings off the pitch in the board room.
Wales call-ups
Joe Morrell, currently out on loan at Lincoln, has been named in the Wales squad for the first time.
He’s made five appearances for the League One side so far this season and has helped them to a relatively good start to the campaign following their promotion last year.
No room for Ashley Williams, though. He’s still without a club but is in talks with City.
Lee Johnson on Ashley Williams
The former Swansea defender was pictured in a City tracksuit last night, but Johnson insists that nothing is a done deal yet.
“The situation with Ashley is that there’s nothing definite. We’ve had him in and we’ve tested him,” said Johnson following the fine Bristol City victory.
“We’ve had a look at him and he’s had a look at us. Both have got to make a decision.
“We haven’t gone into negotiations or anything like that. His body fat’s good.
“I said to him you’re not on trial but your hips are on trial. After all the testing we’ve done we’ll just see where we are.
“We’re quite relaxed about it. We’ll see where we get to at the back end of the week.”
Handy Andi and Big Ben
Our City man was impressed with how Andreas Weimann and Beni Afobe combined last night.
Picking out the strike partnership as one of the key things from last night’s victory, Gregor MacGregor feels former Derby and Aston Villa man Weimann is benefiting from playing through the middle, whilst Afobe’s pace and power troubled the Rams defence.
