Bristol City looking for opening day revenge as Gerhard Struber prepares for first fixture

Local TV Sport

Daniel Wales reports on Bristol City ahead of their first Championship match of the season against Sheffield United.

Transcript

00:00Pre-season is now over for Bristol City and the start of the new championship season is upon them.

00:06But just how will they fare?

00:08Certainly the win against Real Valladolid will have given everyone at Bristol City an awful lot of confidence

00:14going into the first game against Sheffield United, an opponent who they only faced back in May

00:19in the championship play-off semi-finals.

00:21Of course, they lost 6-0 on aggregate over the two legs of those semi-finals,

00:25which was a huge blow for Bristol City.

00:27But let's be honest, the red card in the first leg severely dented their hopes of progressing to Wembley.

00:33But of course, Sheffield United, they themselves did not get through.

00:36They were beaten by Sunderland in the capital.

00:39So for Bristol City, perhaps a bit of revenge on the cards.

00:42That could certainly be in order.

00:43But of course, they do have a new manager in Gerhard Struber.

00:47And he's put his players through their paces during pre-season so far.

00:52And so you'd like to think from a Bristol City perspective,

00:54they will be up and raring to go for the challenge ahead of them in the upcoming season.

00:59And of course, it couldn't really start in more tough fashion.

01:02Again, Sheffield United, of course, a side who, let's be honest,

01:05last season were one of the best sides in the league.

01:07But Bristol City, despite having the blow of losing Liam Manning early in the summer,

01:13they've brought in a head coach in Gerhard Struber,

01:15who certainly believes he is capable of getting Bristol City to build on the foundations left by Liam Manning.

01:21The players have all commented how he's put them through their paces so far.

01:26So let's hear now from Gerhard Struber ahead of the Sheffield United clash

01:30to hear exactly his thoughts ahead of the game

01:34and whether Bristol City can exact a bit of revenge on the Blades

01:38following the playoff upset at the end of last season.

01:41Yeah, we are happy.

01:45We are happy right now what we did in the last few weeks.

01:48So we stay, I think, of course, in the process.

01:50So in the starting position with many things.

01:53On the same time, the boys learn quick.

01:57We can see we have many talented players.

02:00And this shows always talented boys are very learnable

02:04and they can develop quick.

02:07So this means we are, I think, in a good way at the moment.

02:12And of course, we are super excited to jump in the championship right now.

02:17Squad-wise, obviously, you've got a few sort of longer-term injuries.

02:21Nothing else picked up that's going to cause problems for Saturday.

02:25Yeah, I think we have our long-term topics.

02:27But in the end, everything at the moment looks in a good way.

02:31So I hope we can start with all the players what they're available at the moment.

02:39One area you've certainly had to sort of mix and match a little bit

02:42has been with wing-backs, with the injury to Cam,

02:45particularly on the left-hand side.

02:47You've played you in that position in a couple of games.

02:50Is that something you're comfortable with in a championship match,

02:53given that it's probably not the position he's used to play?

02:57Yeah, so this is sometimes so.

03:00I have, I think, some very deep conversations with you.

03:05And I think he feels good in this position.

03:09And also, I would say, the last few weeks he grew in this position.

03:13Also, he showed us in the games good performances.

03:17So why not?

03:18So it's nothing clear.

03:21So we are, of course, flexible with you.

03:24And he can play, I think, in more positions.

03:29I think there's a big advantage with him.

03:31On the same time, right now, he looks good in this way.

03:36Absolutely.

03:37And in terms of the way the pre-season has gone,

03:41any time a club signs a striker, you want them to hit the ground running,

03:44to have a good, positive start.

03:46And Emil has certainly done that, getting a few goals

03:48and giving him confidence going into the campaign.

03:51Yeah.

03:51I think already we realised how important he can be for us.

03:56And this was the reason why we take him.

03:58He has a nose for goals.

04:00He knows exactly also when we play forward.

04:04He's a player he can always come with in a good timing in the back of the defender.

04:10And so in this way, he's very interesting for us.

04:13And I'm happy also how he integrates,

04:15how he takes all the principles in his game.

04:23And, yeah, he's good for us.

04:26Well, Gerhard Stuber certainly seems to be happy.

04:28And I think as well his players are happy and raring to go after the pre-season they've had.

04:32I think it's been a successful pre-season for Bristol City.

04:35And certainly they'll be full of confidence following that final win against Real Valladolid.

04:40But the big tests, they start now for the club.

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