Bristol City v Southampton: Back Saints to go marching on

• Bristol City fail to fire against top-six teams

• Southampton excel against bottom-half opposition

• Saints backed to take top Ashton Gate honours

• Read Betfair's new 90 Minute Payout offer here

Bristol City 5.104/1 recovered from an emotionally and physically-draining 120 minutes in last Wednesday's FA Cup replay with Nottingham Forest by dispatching Middlesbrough 2-1 at the Riverside on Saturday. Despite the tight turn around, the Robins produced an excellent all-round effort with Jason Knight and Matty James striking inside the opening half.

City spent the majority of the second period under the cosh but managed to secure top honours in the league for the first time since Boxing Day. Robins boss Liam Manning, who made six changes to his team, believes Bristol City showed different sets of qualities as they delivered contrasting efforts in each half to emerge victorious on Teesside.

Manning said, "This was a big result. Especially first half, the plan worked well. We frustrated them, I thought we managed regains well in terms of counter attacks, but also had spells where we kept it. We showed a real togetherness in the second half and ultimately restricted them. We found a way to win in a variety of ways - I'm delighted."

Southampton 1.774/5 head coach Russell Martin admitted a few choice words were required at half-time as Saints battled back 2-0 down and then 3-2 to pick up the victory in a 5-3 thriller against Huddersfield on Saturday. The come-from-behind St Mary's success extended the south coast club's unbeaten Championship run to 22 games.

Martin said, "We were really lacking in energy and intensity, got sucker-punched and didn't cope with that well, and we didn't show enough courage in the first half. I saw some stuff I haven't seen for a long time. I told them at half time it was an opportunity to show their spirit. They did, they showed their resilience and I'm proud of the players."

The Southampton chief said the club would need to assess Flynn Downes after the midfielder was forced off after 33 minutes. Bournemouth loanee Joe Rothwell replaced Downes in the middle, scoring twice. Che Adams was withdrawn at half time with a calf problem; however, Martin is confident the Scotland international will be available here.

Saints go marching on

Southampton are W16-D6-L0 in Championship action since the end of September - the in-form Saints have posted W6-D5-L0 on their travels during that sequence and have dropped points just once across all venues in their last nine outings. Russell Martin's men also boast a phenomenal W16-D2-L0 return when facing bottom-half opposition this season.

Such exceptional numbers make it difficult to oppose the second-placed side on Tuesday night. Bristol City were beaten 1-0 at home by Leeds in their last Ashton Gate encounter and fell to defeat by the same scoreline when welcoming high-flying Ipswich; the Robins have notched only once in their four home fixtures against top-six teams this term.

With that in-mind, I'm happy to support Southampton to win and Under 4.5 Goals at [10/11] on the Sportsbook. Bristol City have fired blanks in four of their most recent seven showdowns, with 11 of their 12 league losses involving a maximum of four strikes; meanwhile, all eight of Saints' road victories have arrived via this same method.

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