New-boys show positive signs in City’s draw with Celtic
AS pre-season workouts go, the visit of Celtic on Wednesday evening was no doubt a mouthwatering one for Bristol City, and the Robins gave a good account of themselves in the High Performance Centre’s inaugural contest.
A press box full of sunburned Glaswegians lent a friendly atmosphere to the game where we were sat, but there was no quarter given by either side on the pitch during the match, as it should be.
We’re not going to judge this Bristol City side after one mere preseason workout, and there were obviously positives and negatives regarding patterns of play, player conditioning and more, with a major plus being the fine facility that hosted the game. The show pitch was magnificent. On that grass, Nigel Pearson’s team looked well organised and tough to break down.
A dogged spirit and resilience kept Celtic at bay for the first hour, with the Scottish side fitter and ahead in their preparations, and looking lively through young winger Karamoko Kader Dembele and Scotland international Callum McGregor.
City held out and even came closest to scoring through the returning Andi Weimann and Callum O’Dowda’s late header.
Indeed, with a tad more quality of execution, City could well have nicked the game, which is no bad place to be given that Ange Postecoglou’s side face FC Midtjylland next Tuesday at Celtic Park for a place in Europe’s premier club competition, the Champions League.
Here’s what we made of the three City new boys who played in Wednesday’s game.
ROB ATKINSON
PLAYED to the left of the centreback pairing, alongside Nathan Baker. The central defensive pair looked a very good double act. Baker was superbly commanding, as he often is, meeting cross after cross, and one clearing header from a corner even set Sam Pearson scampering away on the counter. - a counter which should have ended with reward, as a well-made pass would have released Weimann on goal.
Atkinson was the more cultured security at the back. One simple example was when he whipped the ball away at pace in the first half as Stephen Welsh dived in and conceded a free-kick. Albian Ajeti, meanwhile, found access into City’s dangerous areas hard to
come by, and Atkinson did enough at the near post to put off the Swiss international at one point.
There was little driving play into midfield, as is his hallmark, but we’re sure that will come.
The 23-year-old looked solid, both in a team sense and physically, and sat close to the byline we could hear the new defender constantly instructing Jay Dasilva where to stand in front of him. Good signs.
MATTY JAMES
THE central midfielder kept possession well in the middle and while perhaps not as energetic as others around him - it was the first game of pre-season - he looked more sure of touch than some of his colleagues.
A lovely use of the body maintained control of the ball with challenges flying in at one point in the first half, and James’ prompting allowed the Robins to break forward on occasion. He was also able to break up play at several points in the game successfully, too.
ANDY KING
THE Wales international ran hard in the central areas and looks like he’ll supply good athleticism, and the kind of non-stop pressing to build a team around. He harried well in the middle zones and perhaps didn’t often receive the most useful passes.
Another one to snap into the challenges. A promising start against a seasoned opponent, with Celtic having played twice recently already, and it is only one game of pre-season.