‘Laboured’ - Bristol City boss’ honest view on Birmingham defeat as three players singled out

Nigel Pearson described Bristol City as ‘off-colour’ in their 2-0 defeat to Birmingham City at Ashton Gate, but praised three individuals on their performances.

Koji Miyoshi fired home a brilliant volley late in the first half before Lukas Jutkiewicz netted a late goal for the visitors.

Between the goals, Robins defender Rob Dickie was dismissed for two yellow card offences, which capped off a frustrating day for the hosts.

Pearson gave his account of the match: “We didn’t play very well... To be fair to them they started really well and we just didn’t get a grip of our own possession; we were a bit laboured with our passing.

“We were just a bit off-colour today, we made too many unforced errors, and we had players letting the ball go under their feet.”

Despite the underwhelming display, there were three players that the manager picked out that impressed him, and all for different reasons.

“You look at Jason Knight, pressing until the last kick of the game, he is just someone who is desperate to do something about it (the result), and then we’ve got players of different abilities and experiences, I thought Matty James was brilliant in that regard.”

Pearson added: “I look at somebody like Ephraim Yeboah, I look at it as it’s the first time he’s gone on for us and it’s not been a good situation, but I thought he did really well, looked very positive still tried to do the right things.”

The result was the Robins’ first defeat of the 2023/24 season following two wins and a draw, but Pearson was bullish that his team is still heading in the right direction.

“Just because we’ve had a bad day, we are still the same people and we are still a team that I think will do well this season,” he said. “For all the criticism that we might get, we still should’ve equalised and made it 1-1 because it’s a chance that has got to be converted.

“When you’re down to 10 men, to be on the front foot like we were, getting lots of joy, especially down the flanks, Sykesy was creating situations down the right-hand side, then all of a sudden we try and force a ball through the middle and they score from that. Players need to recognise where we are getting joy and continue to do it.

“It’s about decision making and about the fact that during most games, there will be key moments that you've got to get right, and we didn't do that today. We defended badly from a set play and we missed a chance that should've been converted.”