Championship Fixtures/News 20th November 2010 (Part 1)

Bristol City v Leicester City
Bristol City have just come to the end of a five-match unbeaten run – and they’re still in the bottom three with only one home win this season. Leicester know how that feels but they won’t let any sympathy get the better of them.
Christian Ribeiro is in with a chance of starting following an injury to the first-choice right back. hesitate to describe this as good news but I hope he’s on the bench at least.
Brett Pitman will hope his good performances in the reserves will help him to get a start for Bristol City.
Christian and Brett were part of the Bristol City side who beat Forest Green Rovers 13-12 on penalties (I’m sure it’s better than it sounds!) to go through to the final of the Gloucester Senior Challenge Cup. Christian scored a penalty while Brett scored the late goal that took the game to penalties. Brett missed his first penalty but scored his second.
Sam Vokes still isn’t ready to return to action for Bristol City but he will play in a friendly reserve game against parent club Wolverhampton Wanderers which should be interesting.
Andy King will be in midfield for Leicester – and he says he’s very happy at the club.

Cardiff City v Nottingham Forest
Only a win will ensure Cardiff stay top of the Championship – and then only if it’s a home win. Forest haven’t won in Cardiff since before the Welsh internationals were born. Even Ryan Giggs was only two or three. As for the time before that, not even the stats people at BBC Sport seem completely sure.
Craig Bellamy has showed on many occasions why he were playing Premier League football last year although it’s still unclear exactly why his manager as stupid enough to let them go. If Craig plays, it will be his 350th appearance for clubs in the English and Scottish league systems according to BBC Sport (note how carefully they left Wales out).
Jason Koumas has taken longer to adapt but he has promised Cardiff fans he’ll be back to his best soon – and he could start if Chris Burke fails to recover from injury.
Darcy Blake suffered a muscle injury in Cardiff’s win over Scunthorpe and faces a fitness test. Adam Matthews could also have a chance of starting but Aaron Wildig seems to have been forgotten about. But not by me, Aaron.
Forest defender Chris Gunter is likely to make his 100th league appearance against his former club and Robert Earnshaw, who has also played for Cardiff, will also hope to start. Rob believes Cardiff will be promoted this season – but no doubt he hopes Forest can put a big dent in their ambitions first!

Coventry City v Burnley
Coventry have lost three games in a row so they’ll be eager to beat Burnley, who aren’t as strong away as they are at home. They have six points this season from away matches – but none of them came from wins.
Freddy Eastwood, who made his return from knee surgery last weekend, is hoping he can give manager Aidy Boothroyd a nice selection headache.