Nigel Pearson explains woeful Bristol City performance at Blackpool and Dan Bentley absence

Bristol City slipped to a sixth league loss in their last nine games as the West Country men’s defensive woes continued once again on Saturday.

The Robins lost 3-1 to Blackpool and it was definitely not a day for being beside the seaside as the poor weather there was matched by the display put in by those from Ashton Gate.

Alex Scott, Antoine Semenyo and Joe Williams had sights of goal across the game, but the Tangerines took the points as CJ Hamilton, Gary Madine and Josh Bowler all netted to seal a comprehensive result for the home side.

Nahki Wells grabbed his second goal of the season as he tapped in Jay Dasilva’s cross with four minutes to play, but it was just a consolation goal.

After the game manager Nigel Pearson explained to the official club channels what had gone wrong in the trip to Lancashire.

“We conceded three really poor goals from our own perspective,” said Pearson. “In the first half, where I didn’t think there was that much in the game, I thought they pressed us well.

“We were unable to manage the ball in a fluid way that we have done recently, but having said that the goals we’ve conceded have been really poor.

“And then again, straight after half-time, where the next goal is always going to be important, to concede such a poor goal... It gave us too much to do,” he added.

The 58-year-old explained that the goals conceded in the first half were both avoidable but that the Robins had not cleared the ball early enough when opportunities arose.

“We don’t have enough consistency from individuals,” added the manager. “We have to find the solution to that.

“We’ve got to find ways of winning games. That was a lesson for us,” he said.

By conceding three goals, City are one game off matching the run of 1962 that saw the club play 10 matches consecutively, conceding at least two goals per fixture.

The Robins have conceded the third most goals in the league (54) currently, with only Peterborough and Reading conceding more (both 55).

Meanwhile, having named an unchanged team to face the Seasiders, goalkeeper Dan Bentley was conspicuous by his absence from the 18-man squad, with Max O’Leary playing an eighth league game in a row and Harvey Wiles-Richards on the bench.

And the manager cleared that up by explaining ahead of the contest that City’s no.1 has recently tested positive for covid but is not expected to be unavailable for long.

Reading visit BS3 on Wednesday before Bristol City head to Swansea on Sunday 13 February.

“He’s tested positive for covid,” said Pearson. “We’ll just follow the protocols and he’ll be back in training on Monday,” he said.