Football Holden confident City will respond well to ‘punch on the nose’
DEAN Holden does not expect the late “punch on the nose” his Bristol City side received at Barnsley to adversley affect his team in tonight’s Championship game against Middlesbrough at Ashton Gate.
The Robins dropped points for the first time this season when Cauley Woodrow converted a penalty for Barnsley in the 12th minute of stoppage-time at Oakwell, to secure a 2-2 draw with the last kick of the game.
Holden, though, does not expect the result to have affected the confidence and belief in his team.
Holden said: “From game to game, we’ve responded in a game. At the weekend we came out second half and scored two quick goals and got ahead in the game. This is the first time we’ve taken a punch on the nose in terms of a result. Although it did feel like a defeat on Saturday, we quickly responded in the right manner on the back of that.
“You can’t get too down with a game three days round the corner so as I said there we’re ready for this next challenge and it’ll be a totally different challenge against Middlesbrough. We know their threats but we’re ready for it.”
The Robins remained top of the table, despite only drawing at Barnsley, but Holden says he is paying little attention to the earlyseason standings.
The head coach said: “I’m sure the players and everyone else will be having a little gander at it (the table).
“For me, we’ll know going into this next international break of where we’re going to be at. We’ll have played 11 games by then. We’ve got seven games in 21 days in front of us, and it’s a huge challenge for the whole squad and everyone will get game time.
“When we come through that then we’ll know a little bit more. For me, it’s about the performance.
We’ve won in different ways this season and we’re a team that can stick to a style or a formation and we’ll just tweak things in games.
“Apart from a last-second penalty decision going against us at Barnsley it would have been five from five. We’re focusing on performance as much as we can, and we’re hoping that results take care of themselves.”
That message was reiterated by City left-back Tommy Rowe, who said: “Obviously seeing yourself at the top of the league is great for morale, but the main thing for us as a group is that we’ve got to keep our feet firmly on the ground.
“Our direction and the way we
want to go, it’s only five games into it, and nothing’s certain right now.
“We know that each game is going to matter with the way we want to play and showing the fans that per game is more important than the league table.”
Tonight’s match sees the return of Middlesbrough boss Neil Warnock to Ashton Gate, and the veteran manager has been something of a pantomime villain to the City fans in the past - not that there will be any at Ashton Gate this evening, of course.
Holden said: “We went up there at the end of last season after lockdown and we got a good result on
the day. I try not to get too carried away with who is in the opposition dugout. It’s Bristol City against Middlesbrough, not Dean Holden against Neil Warnock.
“Of course I do a little bit of due diligence on each manager in terms of what style of play they might go to if they’re losing a game or what formation they may go to, of course but for us it’s about empowering the players and giving them the ownership to problem solve on the pitch.
“Whatever’s thrown at them they’ve got to respond to and they’ve done that up o now. We’re really looking forward to this big one.”