Flavour Of The Old School For Smith

Thursday, December 8th 2016

Korey Smith admits he’s still building up his fitness after returning from his six-month layoff.

The City midfielder formed an “old school” partnership with Marlon Pack in the 2-0 win over Ipswich Town last Saturday, which was only his fourth start of the season.

Smith underwent ankle surgery at the back end of the last campaign, which saw him continue his rehabilitation into the 2016/17 season.

“I’ve not had a pre-season or anything, so I’m still building my fitness back up,” he told Bristol City Player HD.

“I was out for six months and I’ve only played six games since I’ve been back.

“I want to start all the games, of course I do. However, we’ve got a lot of good midfielders at the club and a lot of games to play – that’s where the squad plays its part.

“It was nice being given that role alongside Marlon Pack last Saturday. We’ve both been here a long time and it was a bit of a flavour of the old school!

“We had to get back to basics and it was up to us to be leaders and communicators. I felt like we did our jobs by dominating that midfield.”

City head to Huddersfield Town this weekend, looking to pile further misery on their hosts who have only won once in their last eight games, despite a flying start to season.

Smith added: “You look at the table and know a victory can help you climb a few places.

“It’s the old cliché though: you’ve got to take each game at a time.

“We can’t even afford to look at the two home games coming up next week; we have to focus all our attentions on Huddersfield in order to put us in the best position before that doubleheader.

“Three points in this league can do so much. You can shoot up the table, given how tight it is. A defeat and you quickly drop.

“Every game is an opportunity to progress.”