Robins' squad stronger but what's best starting XI?

[BBC] Tuesday night under the lights at Ashton Gate proved to be a game of two goalkeepers. Blackburn's Hungarian stopper Balazs Toth was man of the match with a string of fine saves while at the other end, Sam Tickle read the flight of Oladapo Afolayan's shot all wrong for what proved to be the goal that separated the sides. City should have been, and deserved to be, two goals in front after a bright opening spell but Dom Ballard could only watch in frustration as Toth saved a shot and clawed away a header destined for the top corner. That result leaves City in their customary mid-table position with 10 games played, but such is the compactness of the division a win would have put them joint third and a chance to consolidate that with another home game to come against Sheffield United on Saturday. Where most matches are decided by fine margins, will City have an advantage with the Blades having one fewer recovery day through playing their midweek game away at Southampton on Wednesday? [Getty Images] The atmosphere at Ashton Gate was very flat on Tuesday and it is certainly no fortress for the home team. The crowd have hardly been lifted by the fact that in the six games played there this season, City have found the net just three times. Patience is not a word you associate with football but the fans are showing it as they watch manager Michael Skubala come to terms with the rigours of Championship football which is more tactically demanding than League One where he enjoyed success with Lincoln last season. By City's standards, Skubala was heavily backed in the summer transfer window but there will be few dissenters to my own view that he does not yet seem to know what his best starting XI is while at the same time being wedded to a 4-2-3-1 formation. Defensively, City seem quite sound but with Joe Williams injured, Jason Knight clearly with his mind on where he will be playing next season and Adam Randell not replicating anything like his form of last season, the engine room of the team is in disarray. Up front, there is a case for playing both Lorent Tolaj (when fit) and Ballard, who, combined, cost in excess of £8m in the summer. The former Orient striker could play behind Tolaj but then where does that leave star man Scott Twine when you have Jed Wallace, Sam Greenwood, Tomi Horvat and Yu Hirakawa also competing for the remaining two positions? This Bristol City squad IS stronger than last season, but it is lacking in that their depth only allows them two sides of 11 of equal ability rather than one first-team where those picks are very good and the back-ups can do a job. Latest Bristol City news, analysis and fan views