It was a bad day for us collectively – Pearson
WEST BROM BRISTOL CITY 3 0
NIGEL Pearson refused to put the blame on a stop-start afternoon as Bristol City finished a well-beaten side away to high-flying West Brom.
Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship clash was delayed for 15 minutes as a home supporter needed medical attention – later reported as being conscious and set for treatment in hospital – while a City fan required treatment at half-time, which led to another delay, although they too were doing better later on.
It all meant that the second half finished more than half an hour later than scheduled.
Asked if the stop-start nature of the game had affected his side, who were comprehensively outplayed in the Midlands, Pearson refused to use that as an excuse on a long afternoon for City in every sense.
“That’s nothing to do with it at all,” insisted Pearson. “At the end of the day people’s health is a lot more important than starting a football match and whether there’s a ten or 15-minute delay, that isn’t relevant.
“It didn’t stop (West Brom) from starting quickly and we knew what to expect and we didn’t deal with it and that’s the biggest disappointment.
“The goals that we conceded in the first half were too soft, we were too passive, we couldn’t sort our feet out on the ball.
“It was a bad day for us and the defending collectively wasn’t good enough, but having said all of that it would be ungenerous of me not to compliment how West Brom played because they played with intensity, they’re very good side, they’ve got a really good squad of players and they got at us, made life uncomfortable and unfortunately for us we were unable to deal with it and that’s the reality of the situation. They could have been out of sight.”
Nathan Baker was taken off on a stretcher following a head knock, and that led to ten minutes of addedon time at the end of the first half.
The central defender was taken to hospital for further tests during the game, but is reporting to be okay. It remains to be seen if he will be ready to face Barnsley in what looks like a must-win game at Ashton Gate this coming weekend.
Baker going off meant that City were significantly hampered as they looked to defend set-pieces, with Kyle Bartley nodding in a goal three minutes from the break.
Pearson added: “We struggled to manage the ball and having to make two substitutions in the first half, albeit one was a concussion one, never helps, but it wasn’t a day to expose George Tanner.
“He’s done exceptionally well since he’s been here, but I’m afraid it was a tough lesson for him today. It was the right decision to take him off, he was having a very difficult time.
“He’s a young player who’s made great strides and it’s irrelevant what other people think. My job is to make decisions on how I protect going players and unfortunately he didn’t start the game in the way he’s been able to perform of late.”
West Brom: Johnstone, Ajayi, Bartley, Clarke (Bryan 82), Furlong, Snodgrass, Molumby, Townsend (Reach 85), Phillips (Robinson 61), Hugill, Ahearne-Grant (Diangana 64). Not Used: Kipre, Button, Gardner-Hickman.
Goals: Hugill 7, Bartley 42, Ahearne-Grant 52.
City: Bentley, Kalas, Atkinson, Baker (Pring 23), James, Tanner (Simpson 34), Weimann, Massengo (Bakinson 87), Dasilva (O’Dowda 64), Martin, Wells. Not Used: O’Leary, Bell, Scott.
Booked: Dasilva, Simpson.
Referee: Josh Smith (Lincolnshire).