Preview: Bristol City v Bolton Wanderers

A mere month ago Bolton found themselves in similar company to Bristol City at the bottom of the Championship but a recent resurgence in form has seen the Trotters shape a late push for the play-offs.

Dougie Freedman’s side have only won once on the road since the turn of the year but decreased the gap between themselves and 6^th-placed Brighton to two points after a 2-0 win against Wolves.

Wanderers have five games to keep their goal of bouncing straight back to the Premier League alive and midfielder Jay Spearing believes they’re capable of doing so.

The Liverpool-loanee, who scored against City in October, told BBC Radio Manchester: “In the first couple of months of the season we didn’t perform as we wanted. Now we are and we’re picking up results.

“Hopefully we can keep the pressure on the ones above us and sneak up there quietly; Bristol City is going to be another big game for us, but we just have to forget about everyone else and concentrate on ourselves.”

Freedman opted for a rotation policy against Wolves and has hinted that he will look to do so for the remainder of the season.

The Scotsman swapped goalkeeper Andy Lonergan for Adam Bogdan and also replaced in-form Darren Pratley with Medo Kamara.

“We’ve got a very good squad and everyone’s ticking along nicely now. If you train hard, work hard and listen at my club, you’ll get an opportunity to play,” Freedman told BBC Sport.

“Don’t think for one minute that the team won’t be changed next week.”

Bristol City’s home form has been excellent since Sean O’Driscoll began his reign back in January and they desperately need it to continue in order to preserve their Championship status.

The Robins are unbeaten in seven at Ashton Gate but their poor away record finds them rooted to the bottom of the table, eight points off safety suggesting League One is their likely destination.

The relegation-strugglers are sweating on the fitness of Lewin Nyatanga ahead of Bolton’s visit.

The defender’s tight Achilles ruled him out of the 3-1 loss to Burnley ending a 10-match centre back partnership with Liam Fontaine.

City also hope Jon Stead (groin), Sam Baldock (calf), Ryan Taylor (shoulder) and Cole Skuse (knee) come out of training unscathed.

Ghanaian winger Albert Adomah is likely to retain his place in the starting 11 after scoring and winning a penalty last week but understands why he hasn’t featured a lot under O’Driscoll since returning from international duty.

“When Sean arrived I don’t think he wanted to play me on the wing because of the way he set up the team so I’ve been playing a more central position,” he told Bristol City player.

“I had a chat with him before the match and he asked me where I wanted to play. I told him I prefer it on the wing so he gave me the chance, so I had to convince him that I wouldn’t leave the team disjointed.”