Football Holden tells the fans to enjoy that table-topping feeling
DEAN Holden is happy for Bristol City fans to get as excited as they like about their team’s impressive start to the season.
But, after seeing second-half goals from Tommy Rowe and Jamie Paterson take his side to the top of the Championship, the new head coach insisted feet would be staying firmly on the ground in the dressing room.
Holden said: “It’s three wins from three and, particularly with Covid19 causing so much distress, I would not want to deprive our supporters of something to smile about.
“But inside the club the feeling is only to focus fully on the next game. I have had managers call me already telling me to enjoy it and I will do that, without getting carried away in any sense.
“The lads have taken on board what we want from them. Wednesday were the better side in the first half if I am honest, but we tweaked a few things at the break and the first goal changed the game.
“Chris Martin showed his experience with the header down for the first goal and Tommy Rowe did well to get into a central position from wing-back to get on the end of it.
“Jamie Paterson has been brilliant with both assists and goals since he returned from his loan spell last season and it was a great finish by him.”
Rowe latched on to Martin’s perfectly guided header to fire City in front from close range on 59 minutes and midfielder Paterson sealed the points in stoppage-time with a clinical low right-footed finish from 12 yards.
It meant a first league defeat of the season for Wednesday as they battle a 12-point deduction for breaching financial rules. But they contributed plenty to a competitive clash and manager Garry Monk was far from downhearted.
“We were the better side in the first half and created some good chances without being able to take them,” he said. “When you do that in a game, you know that good teams are going to come back at you at some stage.
“We knew it was going to be a
tight match against opponents in good form and had we scored when on top it might have been a different story.
“But we couldn’t quite get our noses in front and you need things to go right for you in front of goal.
“Now it is all about how we react to our first defeat and we must do so positively. A lot of things were wrong last season and one of them was that we didn’t respond well to setbacks. Anyone who watches us can see that we are playing better football.”
The lads have taken on board what we want from them. Wednesday were the better side in the first half if I am honest, but we tweaked a few things at the break and the first goal changed the game