Johnson highlights 'effort and application'

Saturday, March 7th 2020

Lee Johnson hailed his young players after City held promotion-chasing Fulham to a draw at Ashton Gate.

He acknowledged the effort of his players but wants to see improved game management.

In a fairly even contest, Nahki Wells headed City in front but Tom Cairney levelled for the Cottagers with just six minutes to go.

Here’s what the Robins head coach told Robins TV in his post-match analysis:

‘Outstanding effort’

“I’m pleased with the players in terms of their effort and application, I thought they were absolutely outstanding. It was a young side with players like Pereira, Massengo and Dasilva. At times we could have managed the game a bit better. I can’t lie and say I’m happy because I’m not after conceding a lead but at the same time I recognise the quality of the opposition and the effort put in by my players on what was a top-quality football match. At times it was a bit open but that’s due to their quality.”

On Nahki Wells’ impact

“We made the change to enable us to go more direct to win those duels and that provided a nice assists for Wells. If there’s anyone you want those to fall to, it’s Nahki Wells.”

Praise for Niki Mäenpää

“I thought Niki was good today and he had to be top because they are sharp around the box. We limited them to a couple of shots from the box, one we conceded from but the save from the header was fantastic.”

Game management

“We have to be a bit better at managing those moments in the game. It gets a bit bitty, we’re not fully in control but I’m certainly not negative about the performance from the player because they all, including the young players, worked their socks off against what is really a Premier League side.”

Keeping positive

“I always enjoy managing Bristol City, it may not always look like that in my face because I want to win matches and I’m desperate to do well for everyone. We’ll go back, it’s a process and the last two games haven’t yielded the points tally we wanted but for sure they have set up what the last nine games could be in terms of performance levels.”