Huddersfield Town will hope to move further away from the Championship relegation zone as they take on fellow strugglers Bristol City.

The Terriers picked up their first victory under new manager David Wagner last weekend, while City have won only once in their last six games.

Huddersfield Town

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New manager David Wagner has insisted that his Huddersfield side have responded in recent weeks and are showing signs of improvement.

Their 2-0 victory at Birmingham City, thanks to goals from Nakhi Wells and Joe Lolley, was their first since mid-October.

It also marks a potential turn in form, having lost five of the previous six in the Championship, dropping into the relegation zone before the win at St Andrew's.

Wagner will be hoping to tighten up Huddersfield's defence in the longer term, with the Terriers having conceded 28 goals so far this season.

They have been further boosted by the short-term loan signing of Bournemouth defender Elliot Ward.

However, Town are going to be without midfielder Dean Whitehead until February after he picked up a knee injury against Birmingham.

Recent form: LDLLLW

Bristol City

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Robins defender Luke Ayling has admitted that City's squad are desperate to pick up a win at Huddersfield and "repay the faith" shown in them by manager Steve Cotterill.

Meanwhile, Cotterill has insisted that he will never give up on his players, despite his side still only being just above the bottom three.

However, City are very much a side out of form, with their last win against Wolverhampton Wanderers more than a month ago.

They did hold promotion-chasing Hull City to a 1-1 draw, but defeats away to Rotherham United and last weekend's 2-0 loss at Ashton Gate against Blackburn Rovers have left the Robins fourth from bottom.

City's upcoming fixture list could exacerbate their winless streak, with Derby County, Queens Park Rangers, Burnley and Reading to come in their next six games.

The West Country outfit will at least have a sizeable travelling support present at the John Smith's Stadium for Saturday's six-pointer, with many taking advantage of cut-price tickets.

Recent form: LWDDLL

Team News

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As mentioned, Huddersfield will be without Whitehead for at least eight weeks with a knee injury.

On the bright side, Ward could be drafted into the defence after completing his loan switch this week.

Nathan Baker's sending off against Blackburn means that the Aston Villa loanee will be missing for the trip to Yorkshire.

His absence will mean that Cotterill is likely to choose between Liam Moore or recalling Joe Bryan at left-back and moving Derrick Williams into the centre of defence.

Meanwhile, Marlon Pack could return in midfield after a one-game ban.

Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Steer; Smith, Cranie, Ward, Chilwell; Carayol, Scannell, Paterson, Huws; Lolley, Wells

Bristol City possible starting lineup:
Fielding; Bennett, Ayling, Flint, Moore; Williams, Smith, Pack, Freeman; Agard, Kodjia

Head To Head

City's overall record against the Terriers is somewhat mixed, having won 17 and lost 24 of the previous 52 encounters.

However, the Robins' recent form against Huddersfield is poor, with four defeats in the last six meetings.

The West Country outfit's last win at the John Smith's Stadium came back in March 2003, when goals from Matt Hill and Lee Peacock gave them a 2-1 victory against the Yorkshiremen.

We say: Huddersfield 2-1 Bristol City

Over the last few weeks, neither side has shown the ability to string together form. However, Huddersfield's victory over Birmingham could prove to be a turning point under Wagner and they will hope to pick up three more points this weekend.

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