Manning challenges his City players to go again
BOSS Liam Manning hailed an “outstanding” Bristol City performance in overcoming Leicester at Ashton Gate on Good Friday – but declared the Robins must now back it up in their second assignment of the Easter weekend at Plymouth Argyle today.
Anis Mehmeti settled matters against the Foxes with a brilliant second-half strike with the pressure previously having built on the visitors, with Jamie Vardy especially guilty of some substandard finishing.
That Leicester did not score was also down to the performance of home goalkeeper Max O’Leary, who produced a number of eye-catching stops to earn his eighth clean sheet of the campaign, but having secured only their second win in the last seven games, the Robins now need to find some consistency.
Norwich and Sunderland are the only remaining top-half opponents the Robins have to face between now and the end of 2023/24, presenting an ideal opportunity to build some momentum and goodwill going into the summer after what had proved a challenging March for a number of reasons.
“Of course, it’s no secret we’ve lost a few games, we’ve not played quite well enough, but it was only five, six games ago the place was buzzing,” Manning said.
“I’ve tried to stay quite consistent. I do think it shows the margins in this division are so tight, are so fine, but then by staying calm, on that level grounding has to be a strength.
“Enjoy today but then, bang, get ready to go again Monday because I want to follow it up.
“That’s the challenge, we want to go there (Plymouth) and play well. The work will be done, we’ll be in, we’ll recover, we’ll train on Sunday and travel.
“It’s understanding why (regarding the lack of consistency); quite often we jump to tactics, but I don’t think it’s that. Constantly the lads are learning and improving and it doesn’t always look right but I get to see them every day.
“Anis is a good example of that. He frustrated me at times by getting into areas and with nothing at the end of it, but what he is is someone who is open to learn, wants to work and is obsessed by the game, and you have to remember where he’s at in terms of his journey as he’s only 23.
“I’m delighted for him because I know he’s been desperate to do that. When you’re learning it’s not always a smooth process, it sometimes looks messy, sometimes you get it wrong, sometimes it goes extremely well, it’s reflecting on experiences and making sure we have the plan correct and then we underpin it with the same level of focus and intensity that we showed today.”
Goalkeeper O’Leary was named man of the match against Leicester, and Manning added: “Max was outstanding, he was terrific in everything. Obviously the saves were outstanding, but I thought he showed real bravery to go and play, which is the beauty of having time to train because from the build-up from goal-kicks we showed some good moments when we went through them and progressed up the pitch with quality.”