Bristol City manager Michael Skubala has given his team news ahead of the Championship trip to Preston North End on Tuesday. The Robins travel to Deepdale sitting 12th in the table with four points from their first three games, a record of one win, one draw and one loss.
Skubala confirmed to Bristol Live that defender Luke McNally is unavailable due to injury. However, new striker Elijah Adebayo, who signed a two-year deal last week, is in the squad and could feature. The 28-year-old adds to the attacking options after Tomi Horvat came off the bench in the weekend's 1-0 home win over Portsmouth.
Luke McNally's absence is a blow for the defensive unit. The manager's simple "No"when asked about the defender's availability confirms he will not be involved against the Lilywhites."In a weird kind of way," Skubala said, hinting at the positive disruption a new signing can bring to the group. Adebayo's integration comes as City have scored four goals but conceded five in the league so far, leaving them with a minus-one goal difference.
The fixture at Deepdale presents a chance for Bristol City to build momentum. Preston North End, managed by Paul Heckingbottom, are coming off a 1-0 defeat to Charlton Athletic, a result that saw Karlan Grant score the winner. City's own form reads win-draw-loss from their opening trio of matches, placing them five points behind early leaders Charlton. The full schedule for the coming weeks is available on our fixtures page.
With the transfer window closed, Skubala's group is now largely set for the autumn campaign. The manager has to balance using Adebayo with maintaining the rhythm of a side that just secured a clean-sheet victory. The team's current league standing and goal statistics are detailed on our stats section. This game kicks off a busy period, and securing a positive result on the road would be a significant step. The next fixture is this away match against Preston on September 1st, a key test in this phase of the season.
