Frustrated Johnson slams his defenders

BRISTOL CITY manager Lee Johnson accused his defenders of not doing their jobs after two set-piece goals dealt another blow to his side’s fading Championship play-off hopes. Johnson was left seething over the mistakes that allowed Connor Wickham to rise unchallenged to head home after 13 minutes and Massimo Luongo to double Wednesday’s advantage with a 59th-minute volley from close range, with both goals coming from corners. Although Nahki Wells gave City hope with a 68th-minute header, the hosts could not find an equaliser and they are now five points adrift of the top six. Johnson (below), who made seven changes following the 3-1 defeat at Blackburn, cut a frustrated figure at the final whistle. ‘It’s so disappointing because I felt our performance was an improvement and that we deserved something from the game,’ he said. ‘But to concede twice like that from set-pieces was unforgivable. You can’t hope to win games at this level if defenders don’t do their jobs. ‘There were some opportunities for us to score more than one goal. I still believe we can go to Forest and win our next game, but not if we defend like that.’ Wednesday boss Garry Monk was understandably delighted at a win that was especially welcome with the threat of a points deduction hanging over his club. ‘The players deserve huge credit because they have come back from the enforced break with a fresh mentality,’ said Monk. ‘It started in the draw with Nottingham Forest and today we looked solid defensively and threatening going forward. ‘We can only focus on things we can control and I sense the start of the needed culture change I was talking about before the season was interrupted. ‘We needed a fresh attitude and mentality because we were letting ourselves and our fans down.’