All Smiles For Tomlin After Four-Goal Blitz

The maverick number ten has endured a tough season, by his own admission, but starred in last week’s 4-0 victory over promotion-chasing Huddersfield Town at Ashton Gate.

Now Tomlin is determined to reward the fans for their backing in the tough times by continuing the club’s upturn in fortunes en route to securing survival.

“Fair enough it hasn’t been going well for us and whenever I come off the pitch I never smile, but this is one club where I do smile,” he told Bristol City Player HD.

“The fans here are unbelievable. I want to work twice as hard – not just for myself but for them as well, because they do deserve a lot of success.

“We had this benchmark at the start of the season, but it was probably after the Cardiff away game that it went downhill.

“It’s not through lack of effort, it’s just the rub of the green and we haven’t had that. Hopefully we’ve turned a corner now.”

Tomlin partnered Tammy Abraham up front for the first time since the striker’s return from a month-long injury lay-off, with both men finding the net.

“Our first thought as a team was to get the ball to me or Tammy, and that showed,” he added.

“More or less every partner I’ve had, I’ve always done well with them. I know we’ve been struggling in the league and we’re trying to change that, but I still think it’s a very good partnership.

“We have been battering teams with the way we play but not been taking our chances, which has cost us.

“I think the only difference was that we were more clinical and when we got the chances, we took them.

“We’re all going to be under pressure with where we are in the league, but when we got the second and the third goals, you could see we were back to playing with freedom.

“When you play with freedom, you can express yourself and things come off for you. Everyone enjoys it a lot more and you could see that out there.”