Alex Neil had admitted he was surprised by the manner in which Bristol City pressed in their win over Millwall at The Den, with the Lions boss expecting the Reds to roll into a 4-4-2 out of possession instead of remaining in a back five.
Liam Manning’s side secured back-to-back wins for only the second time this season and picked up three points away from Ashton Gate for the first time since November with a 2-0 win on Tuesday night, thanks to second-half goals from Zak Vyner and Harry Cornick.
Vyner opened his account early in the second half when he turned home Cam Pring’s pass to the back post from close range, before substitute Cornick put the result beyond doubt as he tapped into an empty net after Lukas Jensen could only parry Sam Bell’s half-volleyed effort.
While scoring chances for both sides were reasonably few and far between over the course of the game, Neil was left frustrated by the way in which his side fell behind, feeling they made it too easy for the Robins to secure all three points.
“I wouldn’t say they had the edge in the final third,” Neil said in his post-match press conference at The Den. “I thought we lacked cutting edge. I think if you look at both goals, one’s a set play and the other one is a goal kick, so that’s what the goals come to.
“It wasn’t as if they sort of played through us or carved us open, it was just basics really. The corner comes in and we run under the first one, we don’t deal with the second one, they land on it and they square it and score the goal. The second goal, it’s a goal kick, two of our lads run to the ball, they don’t win it and their wide player runs off the back of ours. Then we’ve got an opportunity to collect it, we don’t, it spills and they score the goal so from that perspective, in my view, that’s got nothing to do with how we’re set up or tactics.
“It’s basics, you’ve got a man to pick up from a set play and go and win a header, it really boiled down to that for me. I think the biggest frustration I’ve got is that the basics sort of cost us the game really without Bristol having to do too much.”
Since losing Luke McNally to an ACL injury in their defeat to Swansea City last month, the Reds have floated between a four-at-the-back and three-at-the-back formation. With George Tanner operating as the right-sided defender and Mark Sykes as the pseudo-right-wing back, City have been able to roll between the two different systems during games.
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Against Millwall on Tuesday evening, Sykes’ starting position seemed to be deeper than it has been in recent weeks while Pring also tended to drop back in line with the rest of the defensive unit out of position.
That slight tactical tweak caught the Lions out at The Den and Neil felt that slight difference in approach had something to do with his side’s slow start in the first-half.
“What I did think was, I thought Bristol in the first half moved the ball well,” the Lions boss continued. “The way we prepped for them, they normally fold into a 4-4-2 when they press. They didn’t do that, they stayed with a five which then, because we’d prepped a different way, the spare players were our full-backs rather than somebody in the middle of the pitch.
“It took the players a bit of time to get used to and also when we were trying to build, the spaces were different because obviously, they stayed in a different shape. Credit to the players in the first half because I didn’t think we were great but we got to half-time. I thought we fixed the elements we needed to fix and I thought we were better second half. That’s the frustrating thing for me because when we were better, they scored their goals.”