Mark Robins has insisted it was “ridiculous” that Stoke City allowed Bristol City to get the better of them physically as the Potters were beaten at Ashton Gate, admitting it was “scandalous” the Reds got behind his side’s defence for their opener.
Liam Manning’s side secured a first Championship win in three outings as Anis Mehmeti’s 10th and 11th goals of the season were enough to claim a 2-0 win on Wednesday evening.
The Albanian international turned home from close range in the first half following a smart interchange between Scott Twine and Mark Sykes, before doubling his tally for the evening with an excellent right-footed half-volley with 15 minutes left to play in the second half.
Although Robins felt his side dominated possession, he was left disappointed by the Potters’ defensive play, particularly for City’s opener. While Manning had praised Twine for his pass to get in behind the away side’s defence, the Stoke boss thought the defence’s “terrible” positioning made it too easy for the Reds.
“We didn’t do enough and we allowed them to sort of dominate us in every way really,” Robins explained post-match. “We allowed them to get on top really by really being more physical and out-physicalling us which is ridiculous really. We allowed them to dominate us that way.
“We dominated possession but didn’t have a shot really on target. I think there was one where we hit the frame of the goal, but weren’t ruthless enough to finish that off. That would have been back to 1-1 and it might have just given us a bit of belief but there was a lack of everything really.
“When you boil it all down, there are two moments in the game where we switched off. Where we’ve switched off, they’ve played what they’ll say is a great pass in behind and inside our full-back which is a terrible, terrible bit of positioning. No communication, lack of communication, lack of awareness. To get behind our backline like that is scandalous really. The second one, they’ve scored from a set play where we’ve switched off again and we find ourselves two goals down without laying a glove on them in the other box. Their goalkeeper has had very, very little to do.”
Wednesday night’s win has seen Manning’s Reds climb to seventh in the Championship table. Although City have played a game more than ninth-placed Middlesborough, who travel to Ashton Gate next week, a win over Cardiff City on Saturday would see them climb into the play-off places, even if only for a matter of hours.
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Robins has faced Manning’s side on three separate occasions this season. His Coventry City team got the better of City in the Carabao Cup and drew 1-1 with the Reds in the league before he was sacked by the Sky Blues.
Although the 55-year-old doesn’t believe anything is stopping the Robins from finishing in the top six, he admits the Championship is impossible to predict.
“You don’t see why not,” Robins replied when asked if City could be play-off contenders. “For anybody to put a run together, they’re going to have a chance of getting in there. Anyone can beat anyone else, anybody can beat anybody else at the level. They’ve got a really decent squad, they’ve got some good young players there and they’ve been together for a while now. They’re starting to believe.
“I like [Jason] Knight and [Max] Bird in the middle of the park. They defend and play with the ball really well and without the ball really well. They’re combative, they’ll fight. They obviously know each other really well from Derby County as well and they’re just two good players. They’ve played well tonight, but we’ve not really done enough to ask questions of them.”