Bristol City are the opposition for Paul Warne's Rotherham United in the Sky Bet Championship on Wednesday (KO 7:45pm) at the AESSEAL New York Stadium. We take a look at who the Millers will be facing in our opposition analysis...
In the Dugout
Lee Johnson will be in the dugout for Bristol City on Wednesday night. The 37-year old was a midfielder in his playing days, making over 400 career appearances representing Brighton, Brentford, Yeovil Town, Heart of Midlothian, Bristol City, Derby County, Chesterfield and Kilmarnock after progressing through Arsenal and Watford's academies respectively. Johnson also represented England C five times, scoring once.
After retiring in 2013, he took over at Oldham Athletic, taking up a role that made him the youngest manager in the Football League at the age of 31 at the time. After a few good seasons, he joined Barnsley in February 2015 before heading to Bristol a year later. He has claimed the English League Championship Manager of the Month once, in September 2017.
Stats
Bristol City come into the game sitting 10th in the table, one point off the division’s Play-off places. In their last five games, Bristol have won twice, lost twice and drawn once. They haven't won in three games and in their last game, Bristol were held to a 1-1 draw, at home to Aston Villa. A 16th minute goal by Josh Brownhill was cancelled out by Birkir Bjarnason's header to give both teams a point in the Sky Bet Championship.
Previous Meetings
This is the 51st meeting between these sides with the Millers winning 22 of the fixtures between the clubs. Bristol have won 19 of the fixtures while there has been nine draws. Bristol haven't won at Rotherham since 1995, but did win the last time these teams met. Bristol won 1-0 in February 2017 at Ashton Gate, courtesy of a Milan Djurić goal to give Bristol all three points in the Sky Bet Championship.
Ones to Watch
Our ones to watch start with Finland international Niki Mäenpää. The 33-year old signed for Bristol on a free transfer in the summer from Premier League club Brighton and has made 26 appearances for the Finland senior side. Their other goalkeepers are Frank Fielding, who has represented England at Under 19 and 21 level, and Academy product Max O'Leary, who had a productive loan spell at Solihull Moors last season.
In defence, summer signing Adam Webster has filled the void Aden Flint had left in the Bristol defence. The £3.5 million signing has represented England at under 18 and 19 level, also playing for clubs such as Portsmouth, Aldershot Town and Ipswich Town.
In midfield, Josh Brownhill is another key figure in the Bristol City team. The former Manchester United youth player has made over 80 appearances for Bristol since joining in 2016 and could be line up alongside Irish winger Callum O'Dowda. The former Oxford United youth product has 10 caps for Republic of Ireland senior team since appearing eleven times for their U21 set up.
Upfront, Andreas Weimann is their top scorer this season. The Austrian made over 100 appearances for fellow Championship outfit Aston Villa and has produced five goals for Bristol this season since his summer move from Derby County. He could be partnered by Senegal international Famara Diédhiou who has scored over 15 goals in over thirty appearances for Bristol City.