Chris Hogg has labelled the turnaround between Bristol City’s draw with Sheffield United and the Robins’ clash with Norwich City “crazy” ahead of the Canaries’ visit to Ashton Gate this Friday.
City were last in action on Tuesday evening when they played out a 1-1 draw with Chris Wilder’s Blades at Bramall Lane. Tyrese Campbell had given the home side the lead on the hour mark, but Mark Sykes snatched a late point for the Reds as he hammered home in the 90th minute after a smart pass from George Earthy.
Norwich also played on Tuesday evening, although they did kick off 15 minutes before the Robins, whose draw with the Blades had been selected for broadcast by Sky Sports. Johannes Hoff Thorup’s side welcomed Sheffield Wednesday to Carrow Road, letting a 2-0 lead slip in the second half to lose 3-2 to Danny Rohl’s Owls and stretch their winless run in the Championship to three matches.
While both teams are having to contend with the same quick turnaround, with just two clear days between fixtures, Hogg believes the Robins’ current schedule is putting players at risk of injury ahead of the March international break.
“I think we’ve spoken about it previously, the scheduling is crazy in my opinion how you play at 8:00pm on a Tuesday night and then you’ve got to go again on a Friday evening,” the assistant head coach told Bristol Live after the draw with Sheffield United. “Obviously, it’s dictated to and I do get the aspect of the entertainment factor for a lot of people, but I think it puts the players under a lot of duress.
“We’ve got to see how we recover, see what the state of play is tomorrow and Thursday, and get the boys as ready as we can.”
Although they have drawn more games than they would have hoped to in recent weeks, Liam Manning’s side are unbeaten in each of their last six Championship matches and currently sit seventh in the table, just two points adrift of sixth-placed Coventry City and the play-off places.
A win against Norwich at Ashton Gate on Friday evening will see the Reds climb into the top six at least overnight. Depending on results elsewhere in the Championship, three points against the Canaries could be enough to ensure the Robins occupy one of the play-off spots over the March international break.
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.
Barring a disappointing home defeat to Swansea City, City have been in fine form at home so far this season. Their only other Championship defeat in BS3 since the November international break came against Scott Parker’s Burnley some four months ago now where the Reds were unfortunate to slip to a 1-0 defeat.
Manning and his coaching staff will be keen to extend the Robins’ recent impressive run of form against Hoff Thorup’s side tomorrow and Hogg is hoping the home crowd can help lift the playing squad as they did against Middlesbrough just a matter of weeks ago.
“Another home game so we’ll need all the supporters behind us to try and lift everyone and drive the players on in terms of performance,” the assistant head coach explained.
“It’s great isn’t it, we’ve got nine games left of a Championship season with some really positive, consistent performances and it’s about just keep repeating it and trying to play the way that we want to play.”