Lee’s band of brothers must show togetherness

LEE JOHNSON says his Bristol City players have to live ‘like a band of brothers’ if they want to go up. healthy,” said Johnson (below). “I never promise any player that they are going to play every minute of every game. The truth is they have to perform.

“We’ve got 18, 19 players now who have got to live like brothers for the last spell of the season. Only by doing that, and by being very chuffed for your mate to be the hero on that given day, will we be in the right mental state to continue the run that we’ve started.

“Nahki coming in is not offensive to any of our players because they can play with him.

“He is one of three good additions and I think we came out of the transfer window stronger that we went into it.”

Famara Diedhiou grabbed the 16th-minute winner with a fine header from a Jack Hunt cross. QPR had their chances, with Conor Masterson, Jordan Hugill (three times) and Olamide Shodipo all going close, but they failed to find a leveller. While City were adding to their squad in the transfer window, QPR were slimming theirs down as Mark Warburton refused to pay big money for players on offer. “The best thing is to be honest with the fans,” said the Rangers boss. “We can’t afford to spend three, four or five million pounds on players. “A free transfer comes with a massive agency fee and a great big basic wage. It’s never free. “I had phone calls about ‘only on £25,000 a week, only on £30,000 a week, he’ll earn half wages at £40,000’. That’s not our league. You get all these players thrown at you, some haven’t played for two years but they say, ‘He’s fit now, he has been looking great in training’.

“We’ve kept our young talents, and our senior players are working hard, on and off the pitch, in a mentoring capacity.

“I hope the genuine fans can see a lot of work being done by the players.”

QPR:

Bristol City: