Cotterill’s kids prove point

STEVE COTTERILL believes his young Bristol City side are finally finding their feet in the Championship. After five defeats in seven games at the start of the season they have now lost just one of their last five and last night’s draw saw them move above MK Dons into 20th place in the table. They created the best of the chances of the goalless Severnside derby — watched by just 15,287 at the Cardiff City Stadium — and almost won it when Elliot Bennett’s late strike hit the post. They also had other chances and Jonathan Kodjia had a header tipped over the bar by a superb save from David Marshall on the stroke of half-time. Bristol manager Cotterill said: ‘For a second week running the opposition goalkeeper was man of the match. ‘I have got one of the youngest teams in the Championship and it’s been a steep learning curve for them. But it takes bravery to play the way we do when you’re at the bottom end of the table.’ Cardiff’s chances were few and far between and they failed to test visiting goalkeeper Frank Fielding. Substitute Sammy Ameobi had the best opportunity late on but he could not hit the target from close range as Cardiff failed to register a shot on target over the 90 minutes. Manager Russell Slade said: ‘We were below par, we didn’t have a creative edge. We are tight and organised but we need to be doing more, particularly at home, to be creating more opportunities. ‘Sometimes in football you cannot always find the level you’ve set yourself but there’s no need for doom and gloom.’