Bristol City will be looking to cause another upset on Tuesday evening as they take on Manchester City in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final at Ashton Gate.
They fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat to City in the first leg after a producing a very spirited performance at the Etihad Stadium. It was only Sergio Agüero's late injury time winner that prevented them from going into tomorrow night's match on level terms.
The Robins claimed a valuable point in the Championship on Friday night as they played out a goalless draw against promotion rivals Derby County at Pride Park to end their recent slump.
As for City, Pep Guardiola's side continued their exceptional run of form in all competitions on Saturday afternoon as they secured a comfortable 3-1 victory against struggling Newcastle United in the Premier League.
How they've fared so far
It has without doubt been a very successful season for Lee Johnson and everyone connected with Bristol City so far. They currently find themselves sat in the play-off places in the Championship and are well in the mix to challenge for automatic promotion to the top flight come next May. This is an extraordinary turnaround considering the club narrowly avoided relegation to League One last season.
However, their full attention will be on securing a place at Wembley in the Carabao Cup Final on Tuesday evening. The odds are stacked against them considering they already find themselves behind after the first leg. However, Johnson's side have shown belief and courage on multiple occasions already this season and you would not put it past them upsetting the odds once again under the lights at Ashton Gate.
They will have the belief that they can get a result against City considering they have already knocked the likes of Watford, Stoke City, Crystal Palace and most recently José Mourinho's Manchester United out of the competition this season. If they can produce this level of performance once again, they may have a chance of lifting some silverware next month.
As for City, they have enjoyed an almost perfect start to the season under the management of Guardiola. However, since they last played the Robins, they were beaten 4-3 by Liverpool at Anfield which ended their unbeaten run in the Premier League and proved that they are not unstoppable. The Robins may not have the attacking talent of Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané, but they do have enough talent at their disposal to cause City problems.
Guardiola praised the Robins after the first leg for their attacking approach which almost paid dividends. Bobby Reid's conversion from the penalty spot sent them in at half-time with the lead before Kevin De Bruyne equalised early in the second-half. Agüero then headed home in injury time to secure the win. It was an approach that came so close to working and it would not be a surprise if Johnson set his team up in a similar fashion for this match.
Team news
Johnson may be without Frankie Fielding and Nathan Baker for this match as they both face late fitness tests and are therefore significant doubts. Luke Steele came on in place of Fielding in the draw against Derby on Friday night and produced a number of impressive saves in the second-half to secure his side a share of the points. He would be unlucky not to be named in the starting line-up for this match.
As for City, Fabian Delph has been ruled out with a knee injury and captain Vincent Kompany is once again a doubt as he continues to struggle with a calf injury. Guardiola could opt to give Yaya Touré a place in his starting line-up as the midfielder has been a regular feature for City in this competition so far.