Johnson insists his Robins will fly high
BRISTOL CITY are ‘buzzing’ again and primed to reignite their promotion charge.
That’s the message from Robins boss Lee Johnson ahead of the visit of struggling Millwall to Ashton Gate this afternoon.
City’s 3-2 midweek victory at basement boys Ipswich ended a dismal run of four straight defeats – and halted their alarming slide down the Championship table.
The Robins were in third position after five games but have since drifted into the bottom half of the table, currently sitting in 14th place.
But Johnson insists the doom and gloom that has surrounded the West Country outfit in recent weeks has been overexaggerated.
And he was defiant in disputing talk that his troops are more likely to be involved in a relegation scrap than the race for the top six and the play-offs.
Johnson said: “The lads are buzzing after the win at Ipswich. The result was a big relief because it gets that monkey off our back after those four defeats.
“There’s been a lot of expectation on us. But we’re a new team and sometimes people can over-egg the situation.
“Some people think we’re bottom of the league but we’re definitely not. The three points at Ipswich put us six points off the play-offs – and
14 off the bottom.” Assistant boss Dean Holden reiterated City’s desire to put together a good sequence of results.
“We want to go on a run now,” he said. “We are obsessed with winning football matches and we want to win every week, of course we do.
“Winning on Wednesday was a nice feeling and we want more of that.
“We want to get a feel-good factor around the stadium again. It’s been a while since we have been at Ashton Gate and we are all looking forward to getting back there.”
Relegation-threatened Millwall’s away record is poor. The Lions are yet to win on the road this season, losing all but two of their nine away matches and manager Neil Harris is demanding his players stop the rot.
Harris said: “We are putting ourselves under pressure by not picking up points on the road. You have to pick points up on the road and that starts today.
“I expect my Millwall team to go and win games away from home.”
Bristol City v Millwall, Today,
1.30pm