Lee delighted for Famara after his ‘revenge’ goal seals win
LEE Johnson praised Famara Diedhiou for channelling his frustration in the right way by firing in the match-winner against Birmingham City.
The striker was banned for six games following a spitting incident involving Blues midfielder David Davis at Ashton Gate last season and had a point to prove when he returned to St Andrew’s on Saturday.
Johnson claimed that Diedhiou was still angered by the decision to suspend him. However, his reaction at St Andrew’s was the one the head coach was hoping for.
“We felt the spitting incident was unjust, but the best way to naturally answer those critics is to put the ball in the back of the net,” said Johnson.
“It’s not about flinging your elbows around and hurting people in tackles, it’s to punish people by scoring goals.
“I’m delighted for him because he was quite hurt that he got banned in the end.
“But he’s hit form and we’ve been asking him to get across people in the box. He’s very difficult to stop when he does that.”
The Senegal international’s perfectly-placed second-half header earned City a 1-0 victory and ended the Robins’ 25-year winless run at the ground.
The goal also saw Johnson’s men become the first team to beat Blues on their own patch this season.
Asked whether Diedhiou was more fired up for the clash because of the spitting incident, Johnson added: “I wouldn’t say he’s extra motivated, because he’s always motivated to score goals.
“I’m sure he would have kept it in there (pointing to his heart). I don’t want to make a big thing of it, but it is part of the story. There was no evidence. You can have two people arguing until you’re blue in the face. There was no video evidence and we came out the loser in it, which was frustrating.
“He’s also our record signing and we missed him for six games. We coped with it because we had not a bad start (to the season).
“But, last year, him and Bobby Reid were the most prolific strike force in the division. We lost Reid, and we lost his partner-in-crime, someone who complemented his style. We’re still trying to find our way with a new style. We’re making adjustments all over the pitch, but we’re getting there.”
Birmingham manager Garry Monk hit out at the referee after his team’s defeat.
Monk was upset that his side had three penalty appeals turned down and felt they did not deserve to lose the match.
“I feel hugely frustrated for my players today,” Monk told Birmingham Live. “I said before this game that we are coming into a period in the next couple of months where a lot of games are going to be decided on really small margins and certain decisions going your way or not.
“Today we were on the wrong end of both. Within the game the margins were clear, their margin went in and ours hit the post.
“Then we had three penalty appeals turned down. It was incredible how we didn’t get at least one of them.”
Added Monk: “The margins on the pitch went for them, clear decisions went against us. Those things are out of our control. That’s why I feel so frustrated for the players.
“We didn’t deserve to lose that game at all today.
“They competed hard, we competed hard and they fell the right side of decisions and scoring their goal.”