Bristol City boss Nigel Pearson picks out most pleasing aspect of win over Norwich

The Robins kept their first clean sheet since December 29, much to the delight of the former defender
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Nigel Pearson says he was pleased with how Bristol City defended as a collective unit as they ground out a 1-0 win over Norwich City at Ashton Gate.

Mark Sykes’ goal in the 23rd minute was the only goal of the match, as the Robins extended their unbeaten run to nine matches across all competitions. City have won their last three matches, and are on the cusp of getting into the top-half, with a glamour tie against Manchester City to look forward to in the next fortnight.

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Norwich, tenth before kick-off, could have posed a tough test for Pearson’s side, but they were rarely troubled. Joe Williams was City’s only change, replacing the injured Kal Naismith, and he performed well along with full-backs George Tanner and Cam Pring, who had one of their best performances in a red shirt.

The win for Pearson’s men now moves them up to 13th, one point off of Preston North End, and their victory has helped distance themselves from a relegation dogfight. City are seven points off of the play-offs and now 10 points clear of 22nd-placed WIgan Athletic.

“I’m pleased with the result and the performance was good against a good side,” began Pearson. The result is the most important thing but when you are playing against some of the better sides you know that you’re not going to get lots of chances.

“We could have extended it when Harry had his chance late on, we just had to work hard for it. The thing that stands out for me again is the collective desire to keep the ball out of our net. It was a really good all-round performance.”

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Norwich, relegated from the Premier League last season, won 3-2 at Carrow Road in the reverse fixture in September, with Dean Smith in charge. The Norfolk side now managed by Wagner boasted more shots, but Teemu Pukki’s first-half effort from outside of the box which Max O’Leary dived down to save, was their only real notable effort.

The visitors had 15 shots, but Pukki’s effort was the only one that landed on target, and despite having 65%, they were unable to make the most of the possession they had. City had seven shots and two attempts,

Pearson added: “When you play against the better sides like Norwich are, I think it’s clear before you start, you’re not going to create ten chances, you might get two or three and you’ve got to be able to convert at least one or two of those if you expect to win the game. It’s just common sense.

“They had some pressure and made substitutes to put us under more threat but again we worked hard to keep them out of the box. When they came in the box we put them under pressure very quickly, it’s just basic defending but basic defending is not something that is always in abundance these days quite frankly.”

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