Players solved Bath problem themselves - Johnson

“We didn’t play with enough width, but we didn’t say anything to the players because we wanted them to work it out for themselves.

“We just asked them questions. What did we need to do to create more opportunities? We needed to create width. How do we create width? By getting the full backs high and wide or by getting the wide men dovetailing.

“We ended up playing 4-2-2-2 in the first half and there was no width at all, so it was easy for the other team to pick off our passes defensively.

“That changed at half-time but the players solved the problem – that’s the key.”

Meanwhile, Johnson confirmed Korey Smith’s substitution shortly before half-time was purely a precaution after the midfielder was on the receiving end of a crunching tackle from Bath’s ex-City man Billy Murphy.

The head coach added that Smith could even be involved again when a young City team travel to Torquay United on Wednesday (7.30pm) for a fourth friendly fixture in five days.