We weren't good enough - Johnson

City lost 2-0 against Millwall, who have leapfrogged the Robins in the Sky Bet Championship as both sides fight for a place in the play-offs.

It was a game where City struggled to threaten the host's goal, who scored two goals courtesy of well-taken finishes.

City have dropped to 8th in the league and are now three points behind the Lions.

Speaking after the game, City head coach Johnson told BCTV: "It wasn’t good enough, I don’t think we had a shot to force to keeper into a good save.

"I put out a busy, attacking team to work hard, to compete and I thought we started well. We were competing, playing nice football without that final bit of quality. We had two free kicks in good areas which we scuffed.

"That comes down to a boldness and bravery to produce. We can do that hundreds of times in training and then in a game you scuff chances or a through-ball gets overhit and that’s inevitably how footballers are judged - when the pressure is on."

WE SHOULD THRIVE UNDER PRESSURE

"Pressure should be your friend, something which makes you better and thrive under. We didn’t do that today, we lost too many physical dels and the second goal was embarrassing. The first goal was disappointing but a fantastic finish.

"We were 1-0 down but we had 80-odd minutes remaining and we needed to do more. We need to have belief. We huffed and puffed, we tried tactical changes to give us a platform but the second goal took the stuffing out of us."

FOCUS SHIFTS TO TUESDAY

City return to league action when they host Birmingham City under the lights of Ashton Gate in three days' time.

Johnson continued: "We have a game on Tuesday now and it’s mental how quickly football changes. Two quick wins against Birmingham City and Middlesbrough could make us heroes again. I realise we aren’t that at the moment, and rightly so, but every decision we make is for the benefit of this football club.

"We need a good atmosphere because I understand our fans. Half of them are looking at this as a decent season and we’re upset, rightly so, while the other half are saying ‘we’ve blown it’ and they’re not wrong either.

"We need the drive, the guts and desire to go and get the three points, which doesn’t mean smashing people in tackles: the good good tacklers need to put in the tackles, the good footballers need to get on the ball and the goalscorer need to demand more.

"I apologise for the rant but I am passionate about this and it hurts."

WATCH: JOHNSON'S POST-MILLWALL INTERVIEW IN FULL