Sky Sports pundit Andy Hinchcliffe has admitted that he believes that Bristol City could potentially challenge for a top-six finish this season if they manage to deliver the goods at Ashton Gate in the coming months.
The Robins have made a relatively positive start to the 2021/22 campaign under the guidance of manager Nigel Pearson.
Currently ninth in the Championship standings, City managed to seal an impressive victory over Peterborough United last weekend.
An own-goal from Nathan Thompson as well as strikes from George Tanner and Chris Martin sealed all three points for the Robins at the Weston Homes Stadium.
Whilst Pearson's side currently possess the best away record in the second-tier, they have yet to win a game in-front of their own supporters this season.
Four draws from five home league games has stifled the club's progress and thus Pearson will be keen to address this issue following the international break.
Making reference to the Robins, Hinchcliffe has admitted that the club could challenge for a play-off place if they start to win on a regular basis at Ashton Gate.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Sky Sports EFL Podcast, the former Manchester City defender said: "Once players get this in their heads and it becomes five, six, seven games [without a home win], you're kind of beaten in many ways before you even kick a ball.
"You start to think, well we know what's going to happen today and your performances, you go sideways and backwards rather than playing forwards as you would do away from home and it gets into your heads and that is the problem.
"It's going to take some maybe freak [result] at home just to get the monkey off of their back and just start again.
"But if they can just find a way to win a few games [at home] we could be looking at Bristol City in the top-six because of their away form."
The Verdict
It is hard to disagree with Hinchcliffe's comments regarding the Robins' home form as it is abundantly clear that they will need to overcome this hurdle if they are to achieve a great deal of success this season.
Without a win in-front of their own supporters since January, City will be hoping to bring this run to an end when they host AFC Bournemouth on October 16th.
However, when you consider that the Cherries have yet to suffer a defeat in the Championship this season, the Robins know that they could be in for a tough afternoon against the league leaders if they fail to produce their very best in this fixture.
Pearson will be hoping that Andreas Weimann will be able to inspire his side to victory in this particular showdown as the Austrian has already managed to provide six direct goal contributions in the second-tier for his side.