Neil won’t be put on high by Lowe

ALEX NEIL declined to join in the euphoria of 1,600 travelling fans after teenaged substitute Nathan Lowe’s late winner had capped a stirring Stoke fightback.

“To be honest, I didn’t enjoy a single minute of that game,” said the Potters boss.

“We have played better in virtually every other match this season. That’s the craziness of football.

“We couldn’t have made a poorer start, conceding from the sort of set-piece we had talked about defending and for the rest of the first half we played scared football.

“My half-time message was to play without fear. What the players did show from then on was a collective spirit and determination, which ended up winning the game.”

Bristol looked to have taken command when Sam Bell shot them ahead following a near post corner on five minutes.

And Nahki Wells doubled the advantage 10 minutes later after intercepting a poor back pass from Ki-jana Hoever.

But Mehdi Leris gave

Leris 20, Haksabanovic 47, Lowe 89

Stoke hope with a sweet long range strike on 25 minutes.

Two minutes after the break Sead Haksabanovic equalised with a low drive from a Hoever cross and in the 89th minute Lowe completed the fightback with a far post tap-in.

Bristol assistant-manager Curtis Fleming said: “We feel like we have been mugged, but the fact is we didn’t defend well enough.

“We conceded weak goals, which was a problem we thought we had overcome. Now it’s all about how we react.”

BRISTOL CITY: O’leary 6; Tanner 6 (Gardner-hickman (53) 6), Dickie 6, Naismith 7, Pring 6; Knight 7, James 7, Williams 6 (Conway (89) 5); Sykes 6 (Yeboah (53) 6), Wells 7 (Cornick (53) 7), Bell 7 (Weimann (53) 6) STOKE: Travers 6; Hoever 6, Rose 6 (Mcnally (75) 6), Wilmot 7, Gooch 5 (Tchamadeu (46) 6); Laurent 7, Pearson 8, Johnson 7 (Burger (75) 6); Leris 7, Wesley 6 (Lowe (65) 6), Haksabanovic 7 (Junho (83) 6). STAR MAN: Ben Pearson – The Stoke midfielder was strong and committed in protecting his back-line. REF: Jeremy Simpson 7