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Five-a-side: Best of both! Bristol City

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Birmingham City travel to Ashton Gate on Saturday as they look to continue their fine run of form in the Sky Bet Championship.

The same thing can’t be said about the home side who are struggling towards to foot of the table with the Robins having only won twice since the middle of October.

Gary Rowett’s side have a very good away record and they are currently second in the form table, having picked up 17 points from the last eight games, just one point less than league leaders Hull City.

Blues head to Bristol hoping to leapfrog Sheffield Wednesday in the race for a play off spot and wins against teams towards the bottom of the league are even more important than ones against teams at the top in my opinion.

I am not going to lie about the five-a-side team this week, it has been very difficult to choose a solid five man side, but I think I have managed to do it, although it might be weaker than the ones that I have selected previously.

However, I have changed the selection proceedings this week as I have picked three Birmingham players and just two Bristol players rather than the other way round. Lets get into it…

GK: Tomasz Kuszczak.

Fans from both teams will be asking the same question, why have you picked Kuszczak yet again?

I’ll tell you why folks, he has really picked up his performances of late and three clean sheets in his last six games show that as well.

Personally for me, Kuszczak was the only real contender for this weeks team and that is not me being unfair on the Bristol City keeper, it is just me thinking logically because every team needs a solid shot stopper.

DF: Paul Robinson.

Will this man ever stop! He has grown in confidence over the past three to four weeks and it is fantastic to watch his attributions and contributions flow on the pitch, both at St.Andrews and away from home.

His passion never fails to impress and his desire to go and win the ball even at the grand old age of 37 is still there and purely because of his commitment to his team, I have picked Robinson for my team this week.

MF: Jon Toral and Luke Freeman.

Choosing a midfielder from the Blues was a very tough one for me because they have all been superb of late but because he just keeps getting better and better for us, Toral was the one that I ended up picking.

His sublime volley last weekend against Ipswich Town showed just how much quality this 20 year old has and why Blues are lucky to have him in their squad.

The intelligence he has for the game oozes out when his on the pitch and for that and his tactical awareness I just needed to have him in this weeks team.

Alongside Toral I have decided to choose Freeman from the Robins. It was quite difficult for me to pick a midfielder from a City side which hasn’t really performed through the middle of the park so far this season.

Yes, Freeman is classed as a winger but having a wide man in this team isn’t all that bad.

So far this season the 23 year old has scored one goal in 24 appearances but his creative spark and pace are something that give him that extra little bit of threat when going forward.

I have also picked him because I think he will work well with Toral having been at Arsenal with him when they were both in the academy.

ST: Jonathan Kodjia.

With 10 goals to his name it is clear to see that Bristol City have a real handful up front and I think this is where their main threat will come from.

To score that amount of goals for a side that are in the bottom three in the second tier of English football is very impressive and I am surprised that nobody else in the division has made a substantial bid for him.

Moving to Ashton Gate for £2 million in the summer was a statement of intent from the side that got promoted last season and it was also a gamble, but the gamble certainly paid off and that is the reason why he is in my side for this weeks five-a-side team.

Blues and Bristol City fans, do you agree with this weeks five-a-side team? Would you swap anybody out and put somebody new in? Let us know in the comment section down below!

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