Nigel Pearson on Bristol City’s defensive grit and an ever-improving partnership

Nigel Pearson admitted how impressed he was with Bristol City’s defensive display in their 1-0 win over Norwich City at Ashton Gate on Saturday.

Mark Sykes’ first-half strike was enough to guide the hosts to a narrow win, as they extended their unbeaten run to nine matches.

Following the early goal, the Robins stood firm against the Canaries' attack which included Teemu Pukki and Josh Sargent, as Pearson’s side limited the visitors to just one shot on target and minimal openings.

The defensive partnership of Zak Vyner and Rob Atkinson is going from strength to strength and the manager spoke on how the pair are developing.

“I think the two of them have created a really good understanding as part of a back four which has pace and power,” he said. “You’ve always got to be aware of what your opponent’s strengths are.”

As well as the centre-backs, full-backs Cam Pring and George Tanner also got about their defensive business with a minimum of fuss and were two of the standout performers on the day.

“We played against a side today who changed it a little bit, they were almost 4-2-4 at times and still allowed their full-backs to push on,” Pearson added.

“You need a bit of cooperation on the pitch if you’re playing with side players, you need those players to understand what their roles are defensively, we worked really hard to minimalise their threat.”

Adam Idah and Onel Hernandez were introduced as David Wagner’s side attempted to craft a route back into the match, but the Robins responded to every question they were asked.

“They had some pressure, and they made substitutes to try and put us under more threat, but again we worked hard to keep them out of the box, and when they came in the box we put them under pressure very quickly. It’s just basic defending but basic defending’s not something that’s always in abundance these days.”

Earlier in the season, Bristol City were often guilty of gifting teams cheap goals, but that issue has been largely resolved over recent months, and long may it continue.