Football I think we deserved to win, says Robins boss Pearson
NIGEL Pearson refused to get dragged into talking about Bristol City’s two penalty claims but praised the response of his side after Tuesday’s embarrassing defeat against Lincoln.
The Robins dominated from the first whistle against play-off hopefuls Watford and did everything right apart from failing to make their chances pay. Tommy Conway missed a golden chance in the second half when he dragged an effort wide of the target when through on goal.
Andi Weimann also came within inches of breaking the deadlock when his header was superbly tipped around the post by Daniel Bachmann.
City were on the receiving end of two controversial penalty decisions in the opening 45 minutes involving Nahki Wells. The hosts were adamant they should have had a spot-kick when Wells went down under Dan Gosling’s high boot but the referee waved away their protests. Minutes later, William TroostEkong seemingly pulled back Wells in the area but, again, the official wasn’t interested.
City’s dugout were animated down on the touchline with the decisions, with Pearson placing his hands on his head. The wait for a penalty continues, with the last spot-kick awarded more than a year ago.
Speaking after the stalemate, the manager said on the decisions: “What’s the point in me talking about it? We’ve been over a year since we had one and what’s the point of getting irate about it?
“The players and the staff saw a game earlier where you’re looking at Manchester City vs Brentford and every two minutes there’s a referral to VAR and this league that we’re playing in is one of the hardest to operate in. There you go.
“Yeah (they need support), and they need to be more consistent,
but I can’t do anything about that so you just have to accept it for what it is and that is not really the standard that we would all like and I would say that you would include the officials in that.
“I don’t fall out with them on the side about it, it’s what it is.”
Pearson called on his players to show fight and resilience following the Lincoln defeat, suggesting he’d pick a team that he trusts. That meant Andy King came back into central defence with Rob Atkinson coming to the bench and Timm Klose dropping out of the squad.
City’s defence were superb throughout the 90 minutes, with the visitors failing to register a shot on target. With Pearson coming under increasing pressure heading into the contest, it was a performance
that was required, even if it didn’t gain the three points.
Pearson added: “I think we played very well, and we deserved to win, but we didn’t but I’m satisfied with how the players approached it, especially after Tuesday, because Tuesday we let ourselves down but today, we were very, very good. I’m sure they’ll be pleased with a point today.
“If there was a side that deserved to win it would be us but they’re a good team and they’ve got some quality in there, but we played as well as we could. We worked the goalkeeper, he’s made a couple of really good saves.
“We could’ve done with getting three points, but I can’t ask for more than that, that’s what I expect from the players. A game that’s full throttle and when we need to show commitment, we do it and I got asked a few questions before the game about team selection, but I’ve said it before, I’ll pick the side that deserves to play.
“I’m not bothered about what other people think about selection. For me, I see them every day, I know the ones that should be in there. I thought Andy King was brilliant in there today and he’s not even a centre-back, make of that what you will, I’m not bothered. We needed to play today with a drive to try to win the game against a good side who were in the Premier League last year.”
The point leaves City in 18th heading into the four-week World Cup break with two wins in their last 14 matches.