Chris Hogg has confessed he is “really pleased” for Joe Williams following Bristol City’s draw with Sheffield United, insisting the midfielder has been “terrific” behind the scenes despite not being consistently involved in recent weeks.
The Robins came from behind to secure a point with a 1-1 draw against the promotion-chasing Blades at Bramall Lane on Tuesday evening, with Mark Sykes’ excellent stoppage time leveller cancelling out Tyrese Campbell’s opener.
Chris Wilder’s side had taken the lead just after the hour mark when a smart interchange found Campbell alone in the City penalty area and the forward calmly slotted past Max O’Leary. That goal looked like it would be enough to secure all three points for United until Sykes smashed home on the stroke of 90 minutes after George Earthy picked him out with a smart pass.
Although he wasn’t the man to score the winner, Williams was at the heart of everything positive the Robins did at Bramall Lane on what was only his second start of 2025. While Hogg has high expectations of the midfielder, he felt he impressed against tough opposition.
“He did what Joe does really,” the assistant head coach told Bristol Live in his post-match press conference. “We know what we can expect from Joe when he does play.
“He was in a good vein of form when he was fit earlier on in the season and then obviously, came back, had a sending off and has found himself out of the team more so through the boys in his position doing a really good job in his position. We spoke about it downstairs, he’s terrific behind the scenes, driving the lads every day, training properly and I’m really pleased for him tonight.
“He deserved that opportunity and listen, he did really well. Physically, it wasn’t easy for him, you could see at the end he had a little bit of cramp and stuff but credit to him for the type of performance he put in.”
While Liam Manning’s side came into Tuesday night’s clash as underdogs, they appeared to be the team on the front foot in the first half, even if they weren’t able to find the moment of quality required to break the deadlock. Sinclair Armstrong went close when his close-range header was clawed off of the line by Michael Cooper, while both Williams and Jason Knight tried their luck with speculative efforts.
That continued immediately after the break when Scott Twine came close to opening the scoring with a curled right-footed effort. The former Burnley man had Cooper beaten, but his shot narrowly drifted past the post and into the part of the ground housing the travelling supporters.
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United had chances to further extend their lead, the best of which landed at the feet of Kieffer Moore. The former Cardiff City man had players on either side of him who he could have passed to, but instead took the shot on himself and left his teammates frustrated as missed the target by some distance.
Although the majority of City supporters would have been more than happy with a point ahead of kick-off, some will have left Bramall Lane feeling it could have been more. Regardless of the end result, Hogg felt his side’s display was much more important than the final score.
“In this league, you have to fight hard and scrap hard for anything you get so it’s a pleasing point away from home in what is a difficult place to come,” explained the assistant head coach.
“In the element, the performance was probably the most pleasing bit.”