Sheffield Wednesday travel to Ashton Gate on Monday buoyed by Saturday's home win over Barnsley but knowing that a defeat would leave them still deep in trouble near the foot of the division.
For Bristol City the need for points is even greater. The Robins are propping up the Championship table, 6 points from safety and a defeat would see them fall 10 points behind the Owls.
Wednesday will be without right-back Lewis Buxton. The solid defender was sent off for 2 bookable offences on Saturday and will serve a 1-match suspension. Kieran Lee is likely to take his place in the side. Gary Madine is likely to start up front having performed well in the victory against Barnsley. On-loan midfielder Stuart Holden could find it tough to start 2 games in 3 days having only recently returned from a long-term injury lay off and Giles Coke could replace him.
League rules dictate that the Owls can only name 5 of their 6 loan players in their squad and so one of Jeremy Helan, Danny Pugh, Seye Olofinjana, Leroy Lita, Stuart Holden and Steve Howard will have to sit out.
Bristol City are without former Sheffield United striker Jon Stead as he is sidelined by a groin injury. Fellow frontman Ryan Taylor is also unlikely to feature as he continues his recovery from a shoulder injury but Albert Adomah and Stephen Pearson are pushing for recalls to the starting line up.
Despite the lowly league positions and the importance of the match both teams can still have reason to approach the game with some confidence. Wednesday have lost only once in their last 8 away matches in the Championship while Bristol have not lost in their last 6 matches at home, winning 5 of these matches.
Their was no lack of controversy when the 2 sides met at Hillsborough back in December. City ran out 3-2 winners thanks to 2 penalties from Sam Baldock and a fine late free-kick from Albert Adomah. However, the Owls thought they had rescued a point late on through Gary Madine but the goal was ruled out when the referee instead awarded the visitors a free kick due to the fact that Miguel Llera had appealed too aggressively for what appeared to be a good penalty shout in the build up to Madine putting the ball in the back of the net.
Wednesday have a decent record at Ashton Gate having won 8 times and drawn 7 of 23 visits. The Owls have not lost on their last 3 trips there and recorded a 3-0 win in the F.A. Cup on their last visit in January 2011.