Bristol City

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West Bromwich Albion are set to sign Bristol City goalkeeper Max O'Leary, reports BBC Radio WM.

The 29-year-old has played only five Championship matches for the Robins this season, keeping two clean sheets, and featured in a 2-1 win at The Hawthorns on Boxing Day.

He missed the start of the season having had ankle surgery after Bristol City's play-off semi-final defeat by Sheffield United in May, and has since lost the number one spot to Manchester United loanee Radek Vitek.

West Brom have alternated between goalkeepers Joe Wildsmith and Josh Griffiths this season but have already conceded eight goals in new boss Eric Ramsay's opening two games in charge.

Only Sheffield Wednesday (54) have conceded more than the Baggies' 43 goals in the Championship so far this season.

O'Leary could sign in time for West Brom's trip to Derby County on Friday (20:00 GMT) with a six-month deal on the table.

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All English Football League games across a four-day period in February will begin one minute late to raise awareness for the Every Minute Matters campaign.

The initiative will be in place for 36 matches across the Championship, League One and League Two between 5 and 9 February.

EFL sponsor Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) have been working together since May 2024 to highlight the importance of speed when it comes to performing live-saving CPR.

Later kick-off times will serve as "a stark reminder that every minute matters", the EFL said.

Bristol Rovers defender Tom Lockyer collapsed while playing for Luton Town eight minutes into the Championship play-off final against Coventry in May 2023.

Lockyer then suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch seven months later during a Premier League game at Bournemouth.

"What happened to me can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time," said Lockyer, who is now a BHF ambassador.

"Every year, more than 40,000 people in the UK suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and most of them never make it home.

"I'm here today because of the transformative power of CPR as every minute matters when it comes to saving a life.

"This February, we want everyone to get behind this life-saving initiative, learn the skills and be ready to step in because your actions could give someone else the chance I was given."

Throughout February, the Every Minute Matters campaign will call on fans to learn CPR using the BHF's online RevivR, external tool.

"Each minute without CPR reduces a person's chance of survival, so we're urging fans to learn the skills now, before you ever need them," said Dr Charmaine Griffiths, chief executive of the BHF.

EFL chief executive officer Trevor Birch added: "The one minute kick-off adjustment is a simple, powerful reminder that swift CPR can be the difference between life and death."

Premier League Wolves are the latest club to express an interest in signing Bristol City attacking midfielder Anis Mehmeti. The Albania international is out of contract at the end of the season. (Football Insider), external

Read all the latest EFL transfer rumours in Wednesday's gossip column here.

Bristol City head coach Gerhard Struber felt his team were lacking in vital areas as they lost at Ipswich Town.

Struber told BBC Radio Bristol:"We expected a tough game and higher quality from Ipswich, so I'm not surprised from them but at the same time, I missed sharpness, I missed ruthlessness, the typical energy from us.

"In the end the goals they scored were really cheap, the way we gifted them, and I saw so much space for us, so many moments when we could have created much more.

"We sometimes had too much respect for them and this is a shame. We have to always be on the front foot. We had to be brave as we could not lose here.

"In the critical moments we were not on the highest level you need."

David Pottier
Fan writer

Image source, BBC Sport

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As the January transfer window enters its latter stages, there is a general feeling of disappointment among Bristol City fans.

They had been hopeful that at least some of the money from the Antoine Semenyo sell-on might lead to a signing which would signal some degree of ambition from the owners to reach the play-offs for a second successive season.

The spark provided by any new addition to the squad that is better than what we already have is very much needed.

Saturday's bore draw against Oxford at the weekend saw a team performance that was abject, and that is being polite.

With perhaps one or two exceptions, no-one was on their 'A' game and were it not for a fine save by fit-again goalkeeper Radek Vitek in the dying minutes they would have come away with nothing.

City's form, like most teams in the top half of the table, is erratic, but if the 14 points from the last 10 games is not improved upon then last season's feat will not be matched.

I am predicting 73 points as the likely requirement to secure sixth position and so, to not be chasing a requirement to secure two points per game, City are going to need to have a run of three wins in succession pretty soon.

The signings in the window so far are welcomed by most City fans. Sam Morsy brings experience to a midfield that continues to suffer with the ongoing absences of Max Bird and Joe Williams.

George Earthy is a known quantity from his initial loan spell, having already demonstrated that he will shine more under Gerhard Struber's more expansive playing style than the more cautious approach required by Liam Manning.

That being said, would City fans prefer to have seen Josh Stokes be given first-team minutes rather than be loaned out to Stockport County?

While we are talking about outgoings, there was some shock at Yu Hirakawa's loan move to Hull City. "Why would we let one of our play-off rivals have our player?" cried some sections of the fanbase.

Personally, I was not concerned, as the Japanese international has been a bit of a misfit since his arrival.

He was billed by technical director Brian Tinnion as an out-and-out winger but neither Manning nor Struber feature that position in their preferred formations, so instead we have played the lad, whose attitude cannot be faulted, in a number of alternative roles which have not allowed us to see him at his best.

If rumours are to believed there was another player from Middlesborough, Delano Burgzorg, who was going to join team-mate Neto Borges at Ashton Gate.

If he was the best the recruitment team could come up with as the solution to the club's need for extra firepower up front then I'd give them a C-minus in terms of effort.

Are my expectations of the club pulling off a surprise transfer coup before the end of the month going to be realised? I think not.

More likely is them being "typical Bristol City" by being the team that sees Sheffield Wednesday end their winless run in Saturday's game at Ashton Gate!

You can hear more from David Pottier on the Forever Bristol City podcast., external

Image source, BBC Sport

Ipswich Town are keen on signing Bristol City winger Anis Mehmeti in the January window. The 25-year-old Albania international is out of contract this summer. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Check out Tuesday's gossip column here.

Image source, BBC Sport

Bristol City have agreed a deal to sign 26-year-old Sturm Graz midfielder Tomi Horvat in the summer. It's understood the Slovenia international has passed a medical. (Sky Sports), external

Image source, Opta

Ipswich Town will look to continue an impressive recent run of form in their push for automatic promotion when they host Bristol City on Tuesday night (19:45 GMT kick-off).

The Tractor Boys have won three on the bounce and are unbeaten in their past five games (W4 D1) - a run which has put them within two points of Middlesbrough in second with a game in hand.

The Robins have won just one of their previous four matches (D1 L2) and are three points behind the play-off places.

• Ipswich are unbeaten in their past four league meetings with Bristol City (W2 D2), this after losing five of their previous six beforehand (W1).

• Both sides have scored in each of Bristol City's previous six league visits to Ipswich, with the head-to-head record even at two wins each and two draws in this period.

• Bristol City have lost 15 of their past 16 Championship away games against sides relegated from the Premier League the previous season (D1) since beating Fulham 2-1 in December 2019.

• Ipswich have only lost one of their previous 19 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) games in the Championship (W12 D6), a 3-0 defeat to Charlton in October this season.

• Bristol City have only won one of their past 10 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) away games in the Championship (D6 L3), beating Millwall 2-0 in March 2025.

Bristol City head coach Gerhard Struber told BBC Radio Bristol:

"For everyone in the stadium, it was probably not easy to look at how we played football today. This was not our expectation.

"The only thing that was good today was box defending and this was at a high level to jump out with a point.

"With a new manager on the field, every single player was showing him the right face and we struggled a bit with the energy from them and in some physical moments.

"We were not strong in the basics today. We lost the ball too easy and there was so much ping-pong and lack of control.

"We want to be critical with ourselves today. So many things weren't at the level that we want."

Image source, Opta

The Matt Bloomfield era at Oxford United begins as the U's welcome Bristol City on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Oxford are second-bottom of the Championship, three points from safety, after a run of one win, and four points, from their past seven games.

Two defeats in their past three league games has seen the Robins slip to 10th, though they remain within two points of the play-off places.

• Oxford are looking for a league double over Bristol City for the first time since the 1995/96 season under Denis Smith.

• Bristol City have won on just two of their 18 league visits to Oxford United (D6 L10), winning 2-0 in 1972/73 and 1-0 in 2000/01.

• Since the start of November, only Sheffield Wednesday (5) have picked up fewer points in the Championship than Oxford United (10), winning just two out of 13 games in that time (D4 L7).

• Bristol City are 17 points ahead of Oxford but they've only won two of their past 10 league games when starting the day 17+ points clear of their opponents (D2 L6).

• Excluding play-offs, only three players have been involved in more Championship goals in the past two seasons than Bristol City's Anis Mehmeti (20 goals, 7 assists) – he scored earlier this season against Oxford in the Robins' 3-1 defeat at Ashton Gate.

Bristol City forward Harry Cornick, 30, is set to join League One side Stevenage on loan for the remainder of the season. (Bristol Post), external

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Thursday's gossip column here.

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Bristol City could have goalkeeper Radek Vitek available for Saturday's trip to Oxford United after recovering from a knee injury.

On-loan Manchester United keeper Vitek has not played since before Christmas after having what the club described as a "procedure" on his knee.

He has been the Robins' first-choice in goal this season and was expected to be out until February.

"[He] looks really good, he trained with us the last few days, everything goes well, feedback is good, there's no reason why he cannot start on Saturday," head coach Gerhard Struber told BBC Radio Bristol.

"I have a big trust in Radek, he showed us in the last few months so many times that he has an outstanding profile.

"When he is ready and he gives me the green light and the medical department gives me the green light there is not a reason for me to wait, we jump back with him as soon as possible."

Midfielders Joe Williams and Mark Sykes are also close to returns to first-team action.

Williams has yet to play this season due to an ankle injury, while Sykes has been missing since mid-December with a quad problem.

"Maybe this game is a little bit too early. They are in a really good way at the moment, we hope they are quick back," Struber added.

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Bristol City are "open" to letting left-back Haydon Roberts leave the club this January, says head coach Gerhard Struber.

However, Struber said "nothing is on the table" at the moment in terms of offers for Roberts, adding he would have "absolutely no problem" if the 23-year-old stays with the Robins.

Roberts has made 11 league appearances for Bristol City this season. However, he has only started three times and played just two minutes in the past five Championship games.

"I would understand when he has ideas to move, the game time in the last few months was not really high. I have understanding for his personal interests," Struber told BBC Radio Bristol.

"I would be open. At the same time I am really happy how he did and how professional he was the last few months without the game time.

"He was in all the games when he jumped in, always reliable, always on a good level. Haydon Roberts is a really good, professional player and I would have absolutely no problem if he stays."