Bristol City match preview

Introduction

• West Ham travel to Bristol City for their penultimate away game of the season having recorded their largest home victory since January 1998 on Saturday when they beat Brighton & Hove Albion 6-0.

• Bristol City drew 2-2 with Birmingham City on Saturday after winning their two previous games to move four points clear of the relegation zone.

• West Ham currently sit in third place in the npower Championship; four points behind second place Southampton with just three games of the season left.

• Should West Ham win the game on Tuesday evening they will further extended the club record they set at Barnsley for most away wins in a season to 13 wins.

• The fixture between the two sides at the Boleyn Ground on the first day of November last year ended in a 0-0 stalemate. It was one of only three Hammers' games this season so far to finish in a goaless draw.

Team News

West Ham United

• George McCartney is still out with concussion but  Julien Faubert should return to the squad following his hamstring injury and could feature on Tuesday.

• Gary O'Neil came off on Saturday with a groin problem on Saturday so is doubtful. Carlton Cole has a slight knee problem and might not recover quickly enough. Former Bristol striker Nicky Maynard will be waiting in the wings should Cole not make it.

Bristol City

• Kalifa Cisse is a major doubt having sustained an ankle injury in the second half on Saturday against Birmingham City.

• Brett Pitman will miss the game as he serves the second game of a three-match ban.

Last Time Out

Saturday 14 April 2012
npower Championship
West Ham United 6-0 Brighton and Hove Albion
West Ham United: Green, Demel (Collins 68), Tomkins, Reid, Taylor, Noble, O'Neil (Collison 55), Lansbury, Nolan, Cole, Vaz Te (Carew 77)
Subs not used: Henderson, Maynard
Goals: Vaz Te (3, 8 and 62), Nolan (11), Cole (78), Dicker og (78)

Saturday 14 April 2012
npower Championship
Birmingham City 2-2 Bristol City
Bristol City: Gerken, Fontaine, Carey, Foster, Amougou, Woolford (Kilkenny 90), Skuse, Cisse (Ephraim 78), Pearson, Stead (Adomah 73), Wood
Subs not used: James, Bolasie

Last Six Meetings

(Championship unless stated)

1 November 2011 - West Ham United 0-0 Bristol City
27 January 1993 - West Ham United 2-0 Bristol City (Division One)
15 September 1992 - Bristol City 1-5 West Ham United (Division One)
20 March 1991 - West Ham United 1-0 Bristol City (Division Two)
13 October 1990 - Bristol City 1-1 West Ham United (Division Two)
9 October 1984 - West Ham United 6-1 Bristol City (League Cup second round second leg)

Overall record v Bristol City (all competitions) W 16 D 9 L 4

Ten-Year Records

West Ham United

2010/11 Premier League 20th (relegated to Championship)
2009/10 Premier League 17th
2008/09 Premier League 9th
2007/08 Premier League 10th
2006/07 Premier League 15th
2005/06 Premier League 9th
2004/05 Championship 6th (promoted to Premier League via Play-Offs)
2003/04 Championship 4th
2002/03 Premier League 18th (relegated to Championship)
2001/02 Premier League 7th

Bristol City

2010/11 Championship 15th
2009/10 Championship 10th
2008/09 Championship 10th
2007/08 Championship 4th
2006/07 League One 2nd (promoted to Championship)
2005/06 League One 9th
2004/05 League One 7th
2003/04 Second Division 3rd
2002/03 Second Division 3rd
2001/02 Second Division 7th

Referee

• Saturday's referee will be Craig Pawson.

• Pawson is from South Yorkshire and became a professional referee in 1993.

• Pawson has not refereed the Hammers before but has taken charge of one Bristol City game. He oversaw the Robins 3-2 defeat to Reading at Ashton Gate back at the end of September 2011.

• In seven Championship games this season, Pawson has issued 20 yellow cards and three red cards two of which came in the same game.

• Mr Pawson will be assisted by Justin Amey and Andrew Bennett on Tuesday evening. The fourth official will be Wayne Barratt.

Us and Them

• The following players have worn the colours of both West Ham United and Bristol City during their careers - Albert Carnelly, Fred Corbett, Joe Durrell, Bobby Gould, Fred Harrison, William Ingham, David James, Jack Landells, Hugh Montieth, Nicky Morgan, Leroy Rosenior and Jordan Spence.

• Jordan Spence has enjoyed two loan spells at Bristol City. The first saw the England Under-21 defender make eleven Championship appearances between March and May 2011. The second saw the 21-year-old re-join the Robins on a season-long loan in August 2011. Spence is ineligible for this fixture.

• David James made 102 appearances for West Ham United between July 2001 and January 2004. The 41-year-old former England goalkeeper has played 58 times for Bristol City since joining the Robins from Portsmouth in August 2010.

• The first-ever meeting between West Ham United - then known as Thames Ironworks FC - and Bristol City took place on 2 December 1899. The Robins ran out 2-0 Southern League First Division winners in front of 3,000 supporters at their old St John's Lane ground.

• West Ham United are unbeaten in their previous nine meetings with Bristol City, recording five victories and four draws in that span. The Robins' most-recent win over the Hammers took place at the Boleyn Ground on 11 February 1978, when Jimmy Mann and Joe Royle scored in a 2-1 victory, with Bryan 'Pop' Robson netting the hosts' consolation.

• Sam Allardyce is unbeaten in three previous matches against Bristol City as a manager. He was in charge of the Blackpool side that drew 1-1 at Ashton Gate on 12 August 1995 and won 3-0 at Bloomfield Road on 20 January 1996. Allardyce then over saw the Hammers 0-0 draw with the Robins in November 2011.

• The largest crowd to witness a West Ham United versus Bristol City fixture is the 32,526 who turned out for the Hammers' 3-2 FA Cup third-round victory on 4 January 1969. Martin Peters scored twice, with Geoff Hurst adding the other goal.

• Three players have made their West Ham United debuts against Bristol City - Fred Corbett (September 1900), Richard Pudan (January 1901) and Malcolm Pyke (April 1957).

Up Next

West Ham United travel to Leicester City on Monday 23 April for their final away game of the season. Kick-off is at 7:45pm and tickets are still available. For more information click here. Bristol City face Barnsley at Ashton Gate on Saturday 21 April with kick-off scheduled for 3:00pm.

General Information

The weather for Tuesday evening in Bristol is set to be a mixture of sunshine and heavy, short, sharp showers with temperatures around kick-off time set to be 8C. Away tickets for this game have completely sold out.