Nigel Pearson gives his verdict on the Robins after Bristol City lose to Burnley

Bristol City put up a decent fight but the story was the same as on Wednesday at Carrow Road: good but not good enough.

Tommy Conway set up Nahki Wells to equalise via his fifth goal of the season for the West Country outfit, after on-loan Chelsea defender Ian Maatsen had given Burnley the lead on four minutes.

But Jay Rodriguez put the Clarets in front again on 67 minutes and this time the Robins were unable to respond. It finished 2-1.

The successive defeats have pegged back the ambitions of the Ashton Gate side temporarily although Nigel Pearson’s side still sit in a decent position in the league, eighth.

“We played a good side today and we tried to be as positive and aggressive as we could be,” said Pearson to the club channels after the game.

“But they showed one of their main strengths: their ability to keep the ball and work openings.

“It was a different type of challenge for us today,” he said.

Bristol City had less than 30 per cent possession of the ball, but despite that the South West team had just one shot on target less (5 to 6) than the hosts.

The Clarets move up to fourth in the table but will still have to play at Ashton Gate later in the season.

“But I still think we’ve created opportunities, and on another day we nick a result and they’re very frustrated,” said Pearson, picking out the positives.

“It’s been a tough week for us in the sense that we’ve not got the results that we would have liked but I’ve seen so many positives.

“Not just this week but in the opening months of the season to suggest that we can make big strides this year,” he added, saying that it was realistic to expect his team to compete in the right half of the table in 2022/23.

Pearson also explained that the challenge was to find a consistency in performances. On this week: “It’s been a bit of an education”.

The 58-year-old said that his side had to press better to stop the first goal being conceded, while praising opposition forward Rodriguez for some great technique to put Burnley in front once more.

City now face two weeks off with the international break before taking on QPR.