‘No doubt’ - Nigel Pearson verdict on Bristol City red card after loss to ‘lacklustre’ Sheff Utd

The Robins dominated the match but came away from Ashton Gate empty-handed against Sheffield United
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Nigel Pearson says it is the same old story for Bristol City as they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United despite their dominance. The Robins had 16 shots with only three on target with a better-expected goal rating but lost out to the Blades.

Iliman Ndiaye scored in controversial circumstances with suspicions of offside against Billy Sharp. Sharp apparently interfered with play which Senegal international Ndiaye profited from by scoring with a free header.

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Despite a positive performance where they dominated a team, they ended up pointless and their defensive situation has got worse. George Tanner was sent off after a late tackle on James McAtee in the fifth minute of added time.

“It’s indicative of our season so far,” said Pearson in his post-match assessment to Sky Sports. We’ve spurned chances and given away another soft goal.

“Whether there is an offside or not, we’re still making errors that are compounding our own disappointment. It remains a big frustration. We just don’t concede good goals, the goals we concede are ones that we look at ourselves and go ‘wow that’s avoidable.

He added: “There are a lot of things that have gone on tonight which contributed to it. We are still the cause of our own problems in the sense we don’t take our chances when they come our way.

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“I can’t be overly critical of our forwards because they have really showed up for us this season so far. We continue to concede soft goals and that’s a big problem for us.”

“On top of that, there are other issues. What I said when I came off the pitch I don’t like it when the officials don’t give us true information in how long there is in the game. The sending-off is a red card there is no doubt about that but I would suggest also that in the lead-up to that the control in the game was lost. They wasted time very well, congratulations to them for doing that. I would be happy if my team was able to sort of run the clock down in that way too.”

City’s winless run extended to three and a lack of consistency has seen them slump down the table. An eight-game winning run in the early part of the campaign saw them, contenders, for the play-offs but currently, they are below mid-table with the World Cup looming closer.

Since the international break, they have been unable to claim back-to-back wins which was an unwanted habit last season.

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Asked by SkySports how City could rectify their issues, Pearson responded by saying: “By trying to be as positive as possible. "There’s no point in me going in there ranting and raving although the players are as frustrated as anyone else.

“I can’t say that we don’t go out there and give everything. We are unfortunately making naive mistakes that are costing us. I think if you go through a game like tonight where I think they were lacklustre in the first half in particular.

“They were out of sorts and didn’t really cause us any problems whatsoever. In the second half we expected them to be better.

“In all honesty, we continue with the same sort of theme where we were dominant without really asking the questions we could have asked them. It’s a frustration but that is how it is I am afraid.”

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