Liam Manning has stressed he is “not obsessed” with playing out from the back, but added his side must be versatile when looking to control Championship games.
Defensive issues were once again highlighted in the City performance on Saturday, with another crushing 3-0 away defeat, this time at the hands of high-flying Blackburn Rovers.
Despite conceding three goals away from home for the second consecutive fixture, two of Rovers’ strikes were from Robins mistakes.
Although Max O’Leary has been a standout between the sticks at Ashton Gate, an uncharacteristic performance saw him struggle at Ewood Park. After looking to make a pass into the midfield, a slip saw him gift the ball to Lewis Travis, who was able to calmly slot past the Robins keeper after 17 minutes.
Another mistake, this time from Joe Williams in the second half, saw the midfielder dispossessed by Tyrhys Dolan before he set up Rovers’ standout star Yuki Ohashi for the host’s second.
City continued to look weak defensively throughout the afternoon against Blackburn, with Manning stating after the game his side will look to go back to basics in training this week and after further mistakes in the backline when playing out from the back, the Robins boss was adamant it was part and parcel of that style of play.
“Especially in the Championship now, you have to try and get control of the games and you have to do that in different ways.” He told Bristol Live.
“Build-up is a certain bit but I’m not obsessed on it. I think if it’s something we work on, if it’s then right to do it you can keep control and progress up the pitch.
“The biggest bit for me after that is the decision making and that’s why sometimes you’ll get it right and you’ll get it wrong. Only two games ago, the lads were being lauded for how they played against Coventry and some of the games before that for doing the exact same things but on Saturday we got it wrong and we have to move forward.”
City’s woes have come at a surprise to everyone at Ashton Gate this term, after Manning’s men were one of the strongest defensive outfits in the Championship last season. The Robins yielded just 51 goals throughout the whole of the 2023-24 Championship campaign and conceded three goals on just two occasions in the league.
Yet in the opening five league games this season, City have already conceded three goals in three matches so far.
The Robins have also been without key central defender Rob Dickie, who has been sidelined since the end of August with a serious hamstring injury. The club’s reigning Player of the Year has missed City’s previous two league outings, which saw them lose 3-0 in both contests.