Win Was For The Fans - Cotterill

Sunday, December 13th 2015

Steve Cotterill dedicated a hard-fought victory at the John Smith’s Stadium to the 712 Bristol City supporters who made the journey to Huddersfield.

Jonathan Kodjia and Aden Flint headed first-half goals from free kicks either side of a crucial Frank Fielding penalty save to put the visitors in charge in appalling wind and rain in West Yorkshire.

Harry Bunn eventually halved the deficit six minutes from time, but the City boss was quick to praise the travelling fans who he said featured in his team talk before the game.

“It’s very difficult to go over to the fans when they’ve travelled a long way and you’ve got beaten,” Cotterill told Bristol City Player HD.

“You might be able to give them a clap but what are you going to say?

“But I made sure I went over to them today to say ‘thank you’ to all of them, and the players did the same.

“We mentioned before the game there were going to be 600 or 700 of our supporters here, and on a day like today that’s an unbelievable ask. The result is all for them.”

Cotterill explained the manner in which City countered Huddersfield’s high-tempo pressing game held the key to leapfrogging their hosts in the Sky Bet Championship table.

“The only thing missing was that we wanted that clean sheet, but the weather out there was terrible and it was a really difficult day for both sets of players,” he added.

“I think Huddersfield are a good side. They were a good side under Chrissy Powell and I think they’re a good side under David (Wagner).

“We always knew this was going to be a tough game because they’ve had some great results this season.

“We knew they wanted to come and press us, but if you can get around that, which we did, we thought we would have chances. They are like us – they’re very, very open.

“The third goal in the game was always going to be really important. They got it with five minutes to go, but thankfully when we had to defend, we defended really well.”