Bristol City are looking to extend their unbeaten run in the Championship to five matches when they travel to the CBS Arena to face Coventry City and Fratton Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Robins are looking to get back to winning ways having crashed out of the FA Cup at the hands of Wolves last time out. Goals from Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rodrigo Gomes ensured that Scott Twine’s first-half free-kick was little more than a consolation at Ashton Gate.
Heading into the weekend’s meeting with the Sky Blues, City sit ninth in the Championship, four points adrift of the play-off places having picked up 10 points from a possible 12 over the festive period. Coventry on the other hand are 16th in the league and 12 points away from the top six having only won seven of their first 26 league games of the campaign.
Ahead of the game, here is a full transcript of everything Liam Manning said in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday afternoon…
Liam, it’s good to catch up. First of all, just how do you reflect on the game with Wolves and just generally your league position now as we resume championship action for the rest of the campaign?
I think Wolves, I think similar. It is a good learning experience. I thought second half especially we came out and probably showed a little bit more belief, a bit more confidence in our identity and the level we can hit. There were some really good bits second half and even first half, some of the press at times was really good and then other times, when you’re playing against that level of opposition and that level of player, when we didn’t quite get it right, they went through us and obviously, had that kind of 15-minute spell where they were extremely dangerous.
But we spoke to lads about it, I think it’s great learning for us. We keep saying about it, but we’re constantly working to improve and to get better and the weekend was another experience for us to learn from. Like I said, disappointing to go out but at the same point, I thought the lads, for a large majority of the game, gave a good account of themselves.
You’re ninth in the championship in a healthy position. Is the challenge to keep up your form from Christmas now into these run of fixtures you’ve got coming up January into February?
Yeah, of course. I think it’s a relentless league, right? We know how difficult it is. We know that every game is such a challenge. You take so many of the positives from the first block of the season to where we’re at now, try and relay some of those experiences and use those going forward and become a better version of ourselves. It’s unpredictable with the window and you already see quite a few teams investing large sums so that brings changes in the back half of the season but the group are in a good spot. We’ve performed really well, definitely heading in the right direction. The challenge is to try and continue that.
One or two doubts after Saturday’s game. You can tell me if they remain doubts or now fighting fit. Rob Dickie missed the game. Is he back and available?
Yeah, Rob’s been training this week, so he seems to be over it and looks okay.
And Marcus Marcus McGuane suffered, I think a concussion or a head injury. How’s he?
Yeah, he’s concussed. So Marcus will be ruled out for the weekend, unfortunately. He’s not too bad. He’s kind of going through the stages that you have to, to return to play. So yeah, he’s okay.
Other players on the training ground, it’s just a catch up really. So Ayman Benarous, a lot of City fans wishing him well and looking forward to the day he returns to the field. We don’t want to put any pressure on his young shoulders, but where’s he at in his comeback?
He’s actually been away for some of his treatment recently for a change of setting and environment. I actually sat with him this morning to discuss and go through it and he’s heading in the right direction. I think when you’ve had the volume of injuries he’s had in the same area that he’s had, it makes it more difficult, but I think the biggest bit of the conversation we’ve had and knowing Ayman’s character extremely well, is he’s going to give it absolutely everything to give it the best shot possible of coming back. We’re here to support him and do everything we can to try and help him do that.
Is he still injured and if so, what’s the timescale of when you might see him back on the grass?
He’s still injured, but he’s expecting hopefully in the next kind of three or four weeks to be building things up. Then it’s a case of seeing how he responds, that’s always the challenge of putting time on it. You up the stage you’re at and if the body doesn’t respond great, obviously it delays things and you can sometimes go quicker if it responds better. We have to work off what the players present, but we also have to be a little bit more careful of the fact that he’s obviously got a history of it as well.
We look forward to the day he returns. It’s 12 months since Adam Murphy joined the club. How close is he to knocking on the manager’s door and maybe being in first-team contention?
Murph’s got to keep his head down. I think he was unfortunate in pre-season to pick up the injury and he’s had a few since he’s been here, very stop-start. Again, that’s the bit for Murph, it’s building up load, adapting to the intensity, the way of working etc. Murph’s one that’s got to keep working.
He’s also a young player, so realistically might it be next season before we see him in contention to play for the first team?
I think so. I think when you look at it, just in terms of the volume of games he’s played, even at under-21s level. It’s a big jump from under-21s to first team so I think he needs to concentrate on maintaining fitness and playing games.
I’m going to go about three more players. George Earthy, obviously on loan from West Ham. How do you assess his time at Ashton Gate so far? There have been extenuating circumstances with injury, but I bet he’s really looking to kickstart things in the second period of the season.
Yeah, definitely. George is an intelligent footballer. I know he’ll be frustrated to not have more minutes, but when you look at it, it’s his first loan. I think it speaks volumes how we’ve used him, using him in important games and at important times I think shows the trust we have in him and then it’s about grabbing it. Obviously, when he came on at Plymouth, he had a terrific opportunity to win the game and they’re the margins I think when you go from being an academy player on the fringes to you want to force your way into the team. It’s grabbing those opportunities.
He’s terrific to work with. He’s someone who’s going to have a bright future in the game and he’s just got to keep his head down, and keep working, which he does every single day. He pesters people to do extras constantly. You saw it at the weekend, we’ve played him eight, we’ve played him wing-back and we’ve played him higher. He’s just a really intelligent footballer.
Is he versatile or do you see him in one particular role?
I think there’s always a danger, right? You have to be really clear on what your qualities are and try and nail down a position. For me, I think he’s best higher up. I look at him central, in kind of that 10 role, triggering a press. His link-up play is excellent, he can drop down, and join attacks.
He’s scored a lot of goals in 21s football and I think in time that will start to happen as well. Ideally, we can push him now to try and get it out in games now when he comes on or when he starts. I think the big bit for him is the goal contributions, the goals, the assists. So much of the rest of the game, the defensive, the basics in possession are really good, it’s now that final bit.
Similar question for George Tanner, who we’re getting to speak to today. Is one of the reasons you let Rob Atkinson join Portsmouth because you see him equally as a centre-back, as a right-sided defender?
Yeah, George can do both. He did it last year. He’s done it already. Obviously saw at the weekend he can play either of those positions. George, I thought he was in a good spot before the injury, so another one probably frustrated to miss a period. I think it’s one of those where it takes a little bit of time to get back to your level and I think that there’s still a lot more to come from George.
I think you were asked about Fally on Saturday, about his performances on the pitch but I don’t think anyone’s asked you about off the pitch. When people are talking about him, some of it is one ear and out the other but he also notices it. How important is it that he maintains his belief and confidence so we start to see the best of him?
It’s Fally and it’s the same as all of the lads. The confidence element and again I think that’s where I come back to it, they’re human, right? I think sometimes the expectation now is so high, and rightly so. They’re professionals and we’re here to deliver but I also think it’s understanding where people are at in their journey. We’ve got a few and the club has had previously and we’ll continue to have young players that need support, need opportunity and confidence is a big part of that.
For me, it’s how do you regulate it? How do you keep it yourself in that sweet spot where it’s not affected massively? Part of that’s my job. Part of my job is to keep players in a good spot, same as them and the staff around them. We’ve got a terrific group of people here that you know, try and give the lads everything and ultimately, confidence comes from actions. It’s delivering, I think that’s the biggest bit. There’s a lot of work that goes on, a lot of conversations, a lot of time spent with the players to try and make sure they’re in the best spot come Saturday.
Sam Bell, who didn’t come on Saturday. You can only put so many players on the pitch at one time. Do you see him as a potential striker for Bristol City or ideally would he play out wide where he can run at fullbacks and defences?
I think he can do both. I think he did really well in the games when he came on as a nine. I was really pleased with the impact he had. Obviously had again another couple of nearly moments which is the bit. I had a chat with him the other day about it actually. What he gives you, his pace, the timing of his runs, he obviously played there previously in the academy and again I think it is something that we’ll definitely look to in the future.
I’m going to ask the question, it might be a one-word answer. Incomings, outgoings. Is there any news likely ahead of Saturday?
Unfortunately not, no. Not at the moment.
Coventry City, Frank Lampard is in charge. What kind of difference is it? We’re so used to facing a Mark Robins Coventry City. What’s changed under Frank Lampard?
I think when you look at it, they’ve flipped between systems a little bit recently, so a four and a five. They’ve got a few injuries but they’ve still got the same quality of player. I think you, you only have to look at the money they’ve invested in the last 18 months, two years on the squad to see the level they’ve got. They carry threats and naturally, I think every week I say well organised, will be hard to beat, carry threats and that’s the margins I think at this level. We know it will be an extremely tough game and one where we have to take the form and the confidence from previous league games into it and try and be the best version of ourselves.
Finally, how do you contrast this week where you’ve not had a midweek game to next week where you’ve got Coventry away, Sheffield Wednesday away, and then a game at the weekend? Is it a very different week in terms of management coming up?
Yeah, of course. Rest becomes equally important. We’ve been able to train quite hard this week and then obviously next week it becomes slightly different. I think the big bit is just players in the team, not in the team just being ready because, with the travel as well, it’s such a demanding period. It’s making sure that everybody’s ready to go.
I’m sure you’d have watched the Wolves game back now multiple times. I just wondered if there was anything on a second third watch that stood out, good or bad, that you perhaps didn’t notice at the time?
I think we felt a lot of it during the game, hence we tweaked towards the end of the first half and we actually pressed really well for so the first five, or 10 minutes. Then naturally, when you’re up against good, intelligent players, they kind of solved the problem and got a little bit of success against our press and that’s why again, the feeling that time is to maybe be a little bit reserved, just sit in that high block and then be a bit more patient with the press, which I thought helped us second half.
The big bit, the difference was the speed of recoveries. In terms of when you have a passage of play and you think you’re through their block, their press and you’re progressing up the pitch. Just the speed of recoveries and how quickly they get back into shape and make it difficult to create, were some of the key bits. I think there’s some really good individual stuff. We’ve had a lot of kind of individual chats with their lads and bits around it just to try and pull stuff from it.
The changes in that game. I know Marcus got injured pretty quickly after Jason came off. Is that predetermined? Obviously, Jason’s played a lot of football, or was that more situation-based?
Yeah, the Knighty was a little bit before the game. I was just conscious, he’s one, along with Zak to be fair, that’s played every minute of every game. I think in terms of especially Knighty, he’s away in the summer on international, he’ll have been away every international break so far and played high minutes and then he’ll go away again.
The challenge, especially coming into the run, is that we want in fresh for the league games as best possible. That’s a combination of match minutes. It’s a combination of also having depth. We can start Marcus and rest Birdy and bring Birdy on for Knighty. We’ve got Joe Williams back training this week as well. So again, I think when you look at the competition, we’re able to now make little tweaks and changes like that and that was ultimately the reason for it.
Will Joe be in contention this weekend?
Possibly a little early for him.
Is that similar with Sinclair Armstrong? I know you mentioned he was training with Joe last week.
Yeah, it’s similar. Probably a little bit too early for the two of them.
Is Sincs in particular someone you’re going to have to be cautious with when you take that step to integrate him? You’ve mentioned having to be careful with his return to training.
A little bit, it’s common sense. The lads collect all the data, we have all the information, but I think there’s also a huge element of common sense. When you’ve got someone so explosive, so powerful and so quick that’s had the injury that he’s had, of course, you have to be a little bit careful.
Again, he’s back training, but you also need to build up a level of volume with it. He’s someone that we’ll be sensible with, but at the same point, we want to win games now as well.
On Cam Pring as well, you mentioned it would be weeks initially, I wondered if there was a more specific time frame for his recovery?
Yeah, it’s still going to be a few weeks as yet. Probably not in January we won’t see him.
You’ve already played Coventry twice this year. I know the manager has changed but how much of an impact does that have when you know you’ve already got two looks at them?
It can. I think it was the second game in the season so it was right early on both of them. It was so long ago now. If I probably look at the team that we played that day, it’s different personnel now. I don’t think Marcus and Luke were here when we played them the first time around so we’re probably different as well, the same as them. With the change, with how early it was in the season, of course, we’ll look at certain bits that we did and how we work. But again, they’re doing different things as well so I think it’s very much what have they done recently as opposed to using loads of previous.
You mentioned Scott Twine and keeping him fit on Saturday. During his loan spell and after the permanent move he’s had quite a few little issues. Have you adapted anything you’re doing with him on the training ground in particular or how you use him in the games to try to avoid that happening again?
You’ve probably seen that we took him off a few games over Christmas. It was just such a heavy period and it’s quite often easier to change players top end of the pitch. We tried to manage him through that period. The weekend was his first 90 minutes for quite a while so it was good to be able to get that into him and then it’s working with him. I think that’s the skill in it. It’s not exactly this is how you do it every single week. I think you have to go off how they feel, what the programme looks like, and what the games look like because the demands physically in one game to the next can look completely different. So the skill is having all the information, using your eyes and having conversations with the player and how they feel.
Obviously, Ross and George Taner also played their first 90 minutes since they’ve been back from injury. How did they come through that? Are they at a level of fitness now to do that week in, week out?
Yeah, definitely. I think the more you do it, the easier it becomes. I think Ross is similar. We’ve kind of built him up and touch wood, he’s in a good spot. Same as George. Having those options is obviously a really good thing for us and we can make tweaks and changes. That’s where again, I think when you look at the progress on the work we’ve done is adding some depth and quality, but also, the lads being clear on their roles so we can make tweaks and changes and people are able to step in and be quite clear on what’s expected.
Bristol City Live on Whatsapp
Join Bristol City Live’s Whatsapp community for all the biggest Bristol City stories sent straight to your phone
Bristol City Live is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.
Through the app, we’ll send the Bristol City news, live match coverage, team news, transfers, fixtures, analysis and more straight to your phone.
To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select ‘Join Community’.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live team.
We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out at any time you like.
To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘Exit group’.
If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Just on transfers, you’ve mentioned wanting to get one or two players in but needing players out before. Is it a situation where if someone is to leave, you’re ready to act and know exactly what you want as and when it becomes possible?
Yeah, I mean, there’s conversations on that at the minute in terms of what’s possible and what’s not possible. I have my ideal, I’m not the one that ultimately puts the money in and I totally respect that as well. I think it’s a case of seeing how the conversations go and what’s possible.
I imagine in an ideal world it’d be permanent moves, but you used the loan market last January and you used it in the summer. Would that be something you consider this month as well?
I would personally, yeah. Like I said, it’s not ultimately my decision in terms of what we can do. Again, we have to get a little bit more clarity on that I think in terms of what’s possible. The lads are ready to go, the recruitment department does a terrific job and are trying to work for now as well as the next window but ultimately we have to see what we can do.
I guess obviously you’re kind of restricted about what happens above you. There’s not been as much movement throughout the divisions as there has been in the past. Do you almost need stuff to start going above and below you to open up that market?
Possibly. It’s not always about adding, I think if you look at what we’ve done with the squad this season, it’s about how do you best keep that together and try to keep as many fit and available and work with what we’ve got. Ideally, what you don’t want to do is lose a load because I do think when you look at it, it’s in a good spot. If you are going to add, it has to be the right one that you think’s really going to give you a push in the back half of the season, or whether it’s beyond that.
You also have to be realistic. When you look at some of the movement around us with some of the investment from some of the clubs, the Championship’s back to spending quite a bit of money so again, we have to manage expectations off the back of that as well and see what other clubs are doing. For me, I’m really pleased with the group that we’ve got here and I think it’s about making sure we control what we can and that’s making sure we’re best prepared for Saturday.