Follow live coverage as Bristol City face Birmingham City in the Championship today.
An increasingly competitive second tier in English football remains an intense and exciting competition, with the prize of a place in the Premier League on offer at the end of the season.
Relegation from the top flight last term means Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton are all back in the second tier this term and will be expected to push for play-off spots again at least, but so too will newly-promoted Birmingham City and Wrexham, with a host of hopefuls eyeing up the £200m jackpot that comes with promotion to the top flight. At the other end of the table, Sheffield Wednesday and Hull City hope to stay up amid crises.
Follow updates from today’s game in the live blog below.
Bristol City FC 1 - 0 Birmingham City FC
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:59Match ends, Bristol City 1, Birmingham City 0.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:56Second Half ends, Bristol City 1, Birmingham City 0.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:56Offside, Bristol City. Fally Mayulu is caught offside.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:55Foul by Olly Thomas (Bristol City).
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:55Substitution, Bristol City. Olly Thomas replaces Scott Twine.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:55Attempt blocked. Kyogo Furuhashi (Birmingham City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:52Fourth official has announced 6 minutes of added time.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:52Alex Cochrane (Birmingham City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:51Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:49Delay in match because of an injury Rob Atkinson (Bristol City).
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:44Substitution, Bristol City. Haydon Roberts replaces Neto Borges.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:44Substitution, Bristol City. Yu Hirakawa replaces Anis Mehmeti.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:44Substitution, Birmingham City. Marvin Ducksch replaces Phil Neumann.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:43Attempt blocked. Kyogo Furuhashi (Birmingham City) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is blocked.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:42Corner, Birmingham City. Conceded by Mark Sykes.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:37Foul by Lyndon Dykes (Birmingham City).
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:37Substitution, Birmingham City. Lyndon Dykes replaces Tommy Doyle.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:37Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:37Delay in match because of an injury Demarai Gray (Birmingham City).
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:37Substitution, Bristol City. Fally Mayulu replaces Sinclair Armstrong.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:37Attempt missed. Demarai Gray (Birmingham City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Lewis Koumas with a cross.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:30Corner, Birmingham City. Conceded by Rob Atkinson.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:30Foul by Christoph Klarer (Birmingham City).
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:29Corner, Birmingham City. Conceded by Neto Borges.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:27Lewis Koumas (Birmingham City) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:27Attempt missed. Marc Leonard (Birmingham City) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses the top right corner. Assisted by Paik Seung-Ho.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:27Tomoki Iwata (Birmingham City) is shown the yellow card.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:26Sinclair Armstrong (Bristol City).
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:21Substitution, Birmingham City. Kyogo Furuhashi replaces Jay Stansfield.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:21Substitution, Birmingham City. Demarai Gray replaces Keshi Anderson.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:20Substitution, Birmingham City. Lewis Koumas replaces Patrick Roberts.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:19Corner, Birmingham City. Conceded by Neto Borges.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:20Attempt blocked. Jay Stansfield (Birmingham City) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Tomoki Iwata.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:13Attempt missed. Paik Seung-Ho (Birmingham City) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Keshi Anderson with a cross.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:12Attempt missed. Scott Twine (Bristol City) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Adam Randell.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:10Attempt missed. Tommy Doyle (Birmingham City) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:10Attempt blocked. Patrick Roberts (Birmingham City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Tomoki Iwata.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:04Second Half begins Bristol City 1, Birmingham City 0.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
16:04Substitution, Bristol City. Mark Sykes replaces Ross McCrorie.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:48First Half ends, Bristol City 1, Birmingham City 0.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:48Fourth official has announced 1 minutes of added time.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:48Attempt missed. Neto Borges (Bristol City) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Adam Randell.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:48Neto Borges (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:44Goal! Bristol City 1, Birmingham City 0. Sinclair Armstrong (Bristol City) right footed shot from the left side of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Rob Atkinson with a through ball following a fast break.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:44Scott Twine (Bristol City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:42Corner, Birmingham City. Conceded by Ross McCrorie.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:38Marc Leonard (Birmingham City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:38Offside, Birmingham City. Christoph Klarer is caught offside.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:40Attempt blocked. Marc Leonard (Birmingham City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:38Corner, Birmingham City. Conceded by Neto Borges.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:34Attempt missed. Paik Seung-Ho (Birmingham City) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Tommy Doyle.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:34Scott Twine (Bristol City) is shown the yellow card.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:31Handball by Scott Twine (Bristol City).
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:29Paik Seung-Ho (Birmingham City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:26Attempt missed. Christoph Klarer (Birmingham City) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:24Attempt missed. Rob Dickie (Bristol City) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Anis Mehmeti with a cross following a set piece situation.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:21Foul by Phil Neumann (Birmingham City).
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:21Patrick Roberts (Birmingham City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:19Attempt blocked. Jay Stansfield (Birmingham City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Keshi Anderson.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:14Attempt blocked. Adam Randell (Bristol City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Neto Borges.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:11Foul by Sinclair Armstrong (Bristol City).
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:02Attempt missed. Patrick Roberts (Birmingham City) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Jay Stansfield.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:02Foul by Tomoki Iwata (Birmingham City).
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
15:01First Half begins.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
14:30Lineups are announced and players are warming up.
Bristol City vs Birmingham City
13:00Follow live football coverage with The Independent today.
We will have all the latest scores, goals and updates plus analysis and reaction throughout the game here. This season we're bringing you live coverage from every match in the Premier League, WSL, Championship, Carabao Cup and FA Cup from the third round onwards - as well as the best from the Champions League and beyond in Europe.
