Bristol City stand-in coach Chris Hogg said his team will be determined to take control of the game against Leeds and impose themselves on one of the favourites for promotion.
Leeds United come to Ashton Gate undefeated away from home this season and flying high in the Championship having lost once all season, but City’s assistant head coach said the team won’t change their mindset or principles just because they are playing one of the best teams in the league.
Hogg, who is still stepping up to lead the first team with the continued compassionate leave for head coach and best mate Liam Manning, said he was ‘really excited’ about the challenge of taking on Leeds United, one of the giants of English football, and said there was no question of City sitting back and going into the game in any kind of ‘damage limitation mode’.
“I don’t think I have ever done that in my life,” he said. “With any challenge, there’s always ways to overcome it. There’ll be setbacks, no doubt, in the game. But then, just going back to resilience and being able to do hard things, I think the group’s got that within them.
“And hopefully (with) the support that’ll be in the stadium, it’s around the lads giving people something to get behind and ensuring our behaviors, ensuring our level of quality when we can,” he explained.
Leeds United come to Ashton Gate on a run of six unbeaten, having scored 12 goals in their last six games. The stern test for Bristol City ’s team – also unbeaten in six – will be facing Leeds’ lightning fast attack with the likes of Wilfried Gnonto, and creative midfield.
“You could probably copy every coach’s, manager’s, pre-game script against Leeds,” said Chris Hogg. “They’ll say the same thing. They’re a very good team. Really good players. Top manager. Really hard challenge. But it’s one we’re excited for and it’s one that we’ll be ready for.
“We just need to carry on from the other night in terms of believing in ourselves and having the confidence to go and express ourselves,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to it. I’m really excited,” he added. “I think after the back of the last two games, it’s a really good game for us to go into. I think it’s one for us to go and try and take on our performance level again and show a real aggression and purpose with what we do with and without the ball.
“The Championship’s a tough league. You look at even our last week, our last month we’ve had to play different ways at times, but the principles never change. So for us, we want to try and have the ball and try to be expressive and play forward and have an attacking team.
“But on the flipside of that, we want to be hard to beat. So regardless of opposition, the principles don’t change. Opposition like Leeds are a strong team. They will have moments in the game, there’s no doubt. But then it’s about us trying to wrestle back a little bit of control and giving our players the chance to go and put their mark on the game.
“That will always be the mindset while Liam’s at the club and while I’m at the club to say, listen, we’ve got strengths as well. And we’ve just got to try and manage a way of putting our players in positions and giving them the belief to go on play.
“There will be moments where we’ll have to soak up pressure, no doubt. But we want to try and give them, also, something to defend,” he added.
There are no new injury worries for Hogg from the two gruelling away trips to Middlesbrough and Stoke, and City’s field-hospital defensive area is still pretty full, with both regular left backs, Cam Pring and Hayden Roberts still out, and centre halves Rob Atkinson and Rob Dickie still some distance from being back in first team contention.
Hogg described the sight of Rob Dickie, last season’s player of the year, back on the grass after his serious hamstring tear at the start of September, as a ‘beautiful thing’.
“He’s been out on the grass a little bit, picking up his exposure to certain elements he has to do. It’s been great to see the big man back out there,” he said.
With at least four defenders out for a prolonged period of time, Hogg was keen to big up the efforts of those who have been fit, with new signing Luke McNally imposing himself in the absence of the likes of Atkinson and Dickie.