‘Expect more’ - Nigel Pearson’s verdict after Bristol City loss to Sheff Utd

Nigel Pearson admitted he was disappointed that substitutions didn't have the desired effect in Bristol City's 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.

James McAtee came off the bench and scored in the 77th minute to score the only goal of the game in a game of two halves. The Blades became the first team in the Championship to do the league double over the Robins this season.

The Robins had chances to score in the first 45 with Harry Cornick forcing Adam Davies into action, before Sam Bell missed the target with a header. Sheffield United came out in the second-half and had several shots at Max O'Leary's goal, but it was McAtee, who was threaded through by Iliman Ndiaye, who settled the game.

In his post-match interview with BBC Radio Bristol, he said: "We worked very hard, and unfortunately for us the players who entered the fray off the bench didn't have an impact on the game and I expect them to work as hard as everyone else has worked and we didn't get that tonight. I don't really include Anis in that because he didn't have long enough but we conceded a sloppy goal again through a couple of players daydreaming.

"The team has worked really hard tonight and we should get something out of the game but we've just not continued the levels of work when we've had to make changes or needed to make changes.

“I'm a bit annoyed about that tonight to be honest, because I expect more. Our young players have had a lot of praise this year but sometimes they've got to take it both ways and some have to man up a bit."

The 59-year-old made the changes around the hour mark with Tommy Conway and Mark Sykes introduced for Harry Cornick and Nahki Wells. Sykes played for the first time since March 19, whilst Conway made yet another cameo appearance off the bench as he tries to fully recover from a hamstring tendon injury.

Ten minutes later, Alex Scott - still trying to fully recover from a knee ligament injury - replaced Sam Bell, who had a positive first-half. Paul Heckingbottom made the best chance though as James McAtee, introduced after half-time, scored the decisive goal. In search of a response, Anis Mehmeti replaced George Tanner but the visitors could not find a response, and it left Pearson frustrated that his substitutes could not secure a positive result.

Pearson added: “It's not something I'm particularly happy about at the moment because we've ended up losing a game we shouldn't do. They were better in the second-half than they were in the first. We made them look really ordinary in the first-half, in the second-half we still had some real promising situations.

“Our senior players have been brilliant, I thought the back four and the goalkeeper were excellent. It's just frustrating to have two decent performances, I thought Saturday's was very good, and tonight was a different game.

“We still as an away side were I think decent against a side that have beaten us twice, and both games we could argue should or could finish differently. Tonight through a little bit of us throwing it away if I'm honest. “