‘We get knocked down but we get up again’ - Johnson

The City head coach has seen his side fight back from defeats on more than one occasion, with tomorrow’s Sky Bet Championship fixture another opportunity to do just that after the loss at Millwall on Tuesday night.

And he even cited some 1990’s musical inspiration, nodding towards City’s ability to get back up after being knocked down.

“I think the Championship can easily serve up that punch on the nose and we’ve got to be Chumbawamba (the band behind ‘Tubthumping’) and bounce back very quickly,” he said.

“I think the good thing with the lads is they have proved they can do it before and I’m sure we will do it again.”

Johnson wants to see his side “put on a show”, as he drew on their recent display over Huddersfield Town as the sort of level he expects.

And a positive result on Saturday also keeps City, who sit joint third in the table, around the high-flyers.

“We’re in a place where we want to be,” he said. “Of course we want to be closer to the top two but every win counts for something. We have taken that proverbial punch on the nose but we will bounce back. We have proven we can beat any team in the Championship on our day.

“It (Blackburn) is a different challenge to Millwall as Millwall were a different challenge to Fulham. We have to make sure that no matter what style we play against that we are very competitive. Do I think we weren’t competitive against Millwall? No - I just didn’t think enough individuals got to the top five per cent of their game to beat a side in the Championship.

“It’s a new day, we take a big breath and we go into what is for us a very big football match on Saturday.”

City will host Blackburn in front of at least 20,000 fans, their final outing in BS3 this side of Christmas. Kick-off is 3pm.

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Match sponsor: CSW Lofts