Football We’re still a work in progress, says Holden, after victory against Stoke
DEAN Holden believes there is plenty more to come from his Bristol City side after their 2-0 win at Stoke yesterday.
Nakhi Wells put the Robins ahead two minutes into first-half stoppage-time from inside the sixyard box, and Andreas Weimann secured the points with a minute to go after being played in by Antoine Semenyo.
“This club is aiming to be at the top end of the table,” said head coach Holden. “We are a work in progress and building.
“The players are buying into what we are trying to do and we have got good belief in the group.
“We have had an outstanding start but that is all it is - it is just a start and we are nowhere near where we want to be.
“We have got good young players coming through and we are going to get better.
“We had control of the game. I’m not interested in sending messages to other teams, it is just about us and about gaining momentum.
“Some of our play with the ball was outstanding. We took the game to them in the first 15 minutes.
“This is a hard place to come and you can’t come here and not have a scrap and that’s the pleasing thing this season.
“We are moving the ball well and creating big chances in games. We’re clinical when we get the chances and we are keeping our goal relatively quiet. Every performance has to have a bit of everything. You have to scrap, you have to pass well and we saw that today.”
Meanwhile, Paul Simpson is optimistic that Tomas Kalas could return to action for Bristol City in October after the club initially feared the Robins captain could be out until next year.
Kalas damaged the shoulder early in City’s 4-0 Carabao Cup win over Northampton and left the field in visible pain with his shirt forming a makeshift sling.
After undergoing a scan on the problem on Friday, the club have been told the injury isn’t as bad as first considered, with the centreback looking at an absence of between one and two months.
“The news is it’s much better than we first feared,” assistant boss Simpson told “I can’t go into the medical side of it, I don’t have that in my locker but he had a scan. We’re hoping that by Monday he’d have settled down a lot and there might be something they’re hoping to do to speed him up and get him back on the grass.
“Originally we were looking at long-term but it may only be a case of one or two months, something like that. As I say, I’m not on the medical side and I don’t want to tread on any toes but it’s very positive.”