‘Proud moment’ – Bristol City boss Liam Manning’s overriding emotion after ‘gritty’ Middlesbrough victory

Liam Manning praised Bristol City's 'grit' in their 3-2 win over Middlesbrough and couldn't hide his pride after the dramatic victory.

An outstanding strike from Taylor Gardner-Hickman gave City the lead before Tommy Conway doubled their advantage before the break.

Boro struck twice early in the second half to draw level before a Mark Sykes volley sent the Robins back in front.

When asked about his first experience on the touchline at Ashton Gate, Manning jokingly replied: “Nice and relaxing! It was a terrific atmosphere, I think the fans were incredible and helped us get over the line."

The opening 30 minutes of the match were far from enthralling. Michael Carrick's side dominated early on, and when City did get a foothold, they offered little in the way of attacking threat at times.

Manning admitted that implementing his style will take some time, but that he was pleased with what the players are showing.

“Dissecting it, I think we’re in a phase of transitioning the group to play how we want to and what that looks like," he said. "It's not going to look perfect, as you could see in the first half, but a moment of real quality put us ahead.

"We didn’t plan on starting the second half like that and we spoke about it at half time that they'd be more aggressive, change how they press maybe be a bit more front-footed, we had to adapt to that, which obviously we didn’t do.

"To show the response that the players did was outstanding, the resilience, the calmness as well was the big bit... It’s a really proud moment for me."

After Sykes' strike, City switched to five at the back in the hope of shutting out their opponents. Middlesbrough hit the post in their search for a late equaliser, but even after seven additional minutes at the end, City held firm.

Manning continued: "The way that we defended the box in the last five minutes summed up what we want to be about.

"It's funny, in the week we finished a session where there were four players defending the box against eight inside the penalty area. It entered my head in the last five minutes today, that desire, determination, grit, it's a powerful thing."