Nigel Pearson makes ‘proud’ admission to Bristol City fans as play-off push assessed

Bristol City supporters have a team that they can be proud of, admits manager Nigel Pearson after their 1-0 win over Norwich City.

Mark Sykes’ goal in the 23rd minute put the Robins on their way to a third straight victory, extending their unbeaten run in all competitions to nine matches. City have yet to lose in the New Year, and the feeling around Ashton Gate is completely different from when they last lost, with fans, players and management all on the same hymn sheet.

City’s unbeaten run has lifted the gloom that was around the place before January, and now there is a positive outlook for their future. Their run does not look like stopping at the moment, and a win over the Canaries is perhaps one of the pick of their results, given they had been in the Premier League last season.

Pearson was able to introduce deadline day signings Anis Mehmeti and Harry Cornick from the bench, whilst club captain Andi Weimann replaced the in-demand Alex Scott in the latter stages of the match.

Pearson said: "We will come unstuck from time to time but as long as we get honest performances, as long as our work rate remains high and we aspire at least to achieve the standards that we set, I’ll be relatively happy and I hope our fans will too.

"Our fans now have a team that I think we should be proud of. It’s talented but it’s also hard working and the future looks bright for the club.”

In the defeat to West Brom, there had been boos around the Gate, and some chants directed towards Pearson, which he fronted up to and has now been able to come out of it on the other side, with the tide turning on the opinion of him.

Before a ball had been kicked, the play-offs had been their goal, and a positive start with a similar unbeaten run to what they have now, looked like that was achievable, but a drop off in form saw them slump down the table. City have now put themselves in a position that they could be considered dark horses for promotion.

The win over Norwich put them ten points clear of Wigan Athletic, who occupy the last relegation spot, and they are just seven points off of Watford. A win against struggling Wigan in week, would likely put them into the top-half of the table.

"Whether that’s possible or not, who knows,” Pearson said about the potential of a play-off push. “We’ve created some momentum after a run of games that brought some criticism so we’ll just have to keep our heads down and keep working. I never think of those terms anyway, it’s about how we can get the most out of our players at any given time."