Liam Manning has challenged Anis Mehmeti to begin scoring a goal in every “two or three games” to reach the “top end” after his brace in Bristol City’s 3-0 win over Portsmouth.
The Robins secured back-to-back wins for the first time this season with an impressive 3-0 thrashing of John Mousinho’s side on Sunday in what was their final game of 2024.
Mehmeti broke the deadlock just 15 minutes into the first half as he calmly slotted past Nicolas Schmid in the Pompey net before doubling his tally just 17 minutes later when he calmly turned home a cutback from Nahki Wells.
A third second-half goal courtesy of Rob Dickie was enough to ensure that all three points would remain in the West Country. While the atmosphere in and around Ashton Gate was one of positivity, Manning admitted that Mehmeti was “disappointed” to not have secured a first hattrick in Bristol City colours.
“I think it’s the biggest area that we’ve spoken a lot around,” the City head coach explained after the full-time whistle. “If you look at him last season and where we’re at now, one we’re creating him more chances and getting him the ball into better areas for him, but I also think he’s trying to be more direct as well.
“It’s something we’ve spoken about a lot and madly he was disappointed and frustrated at the end not to have more and that’s what’s great about him, his hunger, his desire, his drive. It’s all on ratios with Anis, I think that’s the bit. If you want to really be serious and compete at the top, it has to be one in every two or three games that you do that.
“I know he can do it, I know that he will get there, but we want it now and that’s the bit with development that takes a little bit of time. You can’t put the penny on when it will drop. What I do know is that we’ve got a fantastic group of lads who will turn up, work hard, push themselves and want to get better and improve. The nice thing is, I know they’ll enjoy today but they’ll be ready to go again in three days.”
“People are asking about what Anis has done to do it, but you’ve got someone like Birdy feeding him, you’ve got Twiney feeding him and I think that’s the big bit. You’ve got good players feeding attacking players into good areas.”
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Sunday’s win leaves City within touching points of the play-off places heading into 2025. The Reds sit 10th in the table, just four points adrift of the top six with 22 games still to play before the end of the season.
With a New Year’s Day trip to Home Park to face Plymouth Argyle next on the agenda, the Robins will be hoping to close the gap to sixth-placed Watford. Although Manning is keen for both his players and the City fans to aim for the Premier League, he wants them to enjoy the coming months.
“I’ve never knocked it. You want people who aspire and dream big, but not for the sake of enjoying the journey a little bit,” explained the 39-year-old. “What have we done, 24 games now? This is the first one of the second half of the season and there has been massive progress. We’re halfway through the season and disappointed to have not picked up more points from what the performances have merited, but for me, it doesn’t happen instantly.
“If you want to be successful, you have to build things and it takes time. We’ve shown huge progress and it’s about everyone enjoying today and then getting ready to go again in three days’ time.”