What Neil Warnock said about Bristol City’s play-off chances and their danger man

Neil Warnock has began his mind games after admitting that he is surprised that Bristol City are not ‘fighting’ for the play-offs ahead of their clash with Huddersfield Town.

A long-time enemy of the Robins, Warnock is hoping to inflict a third consecutive defeat after losses to Manchester City and Cardiff, missing the opportunity to move in to the top-half of the table. Nigel Pearson's side are currently 14th, and are 11 points off of the play-offs with a game in hand over Norwich City, which will be played against the Terriers on Tuesday night.

Pearson did set a challenge to his players players about remaining consistent to see if they could mount a late play-off push, but recent injuries could make that task difficult. Joe Williams and Tomas Kalas both complained of injuries in the Severnside Derby defeat to Cardiff and will be further assessed.

Warnock, 74, was complimentary of Bristol City, and admitted he was surprised that they aren’t closer to the play-offs given the players he has at his disposal. The 74-year-old picked out City’s top scorer Nahki Wells in particular, who has 11 goals in 33 games this season.

"They've had an exciting group of young players come through and I had the same at Sheffield United," said Warnock to the Examiner in his pre-match press conference.

"You're blessed that they all step up to the Championship and they have good players, plus they have players like Nahki Wells who has been good throughout his career. I'm surprised they're not up fighting for the play-offs. I've had some right battles with their fans and I'm sure if we lose 4-0 on Tuesday they'll be having a few rounds.

"Their front four are as good as anybody, whoever he plays. They're all quick and very very good. Our defence will need to be on their toes and play better than they have lately."

Huddersfield suffered a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Coventry City last Saturday, which has made for an uphill battle for Championship survival. Warnock is the fourth manager of the season at the John Smith’s Stadium, and so far he has overseen one win in his three matches, conceding nine goals.

The hosts are Huddersfield are rock bottom of the division and are seven points adrift of safety and a point behind Blackpool and Wigan Athletic. Warnock's one and only win so far was their only taste of victory in 11 matches. Coventry’s thrashing in front of Hudersfield’s supporters has made Warnock admit that it would take ‘something monumental’ for his side to remain in the Championship.

Tuesday’s match with Bristol City acts as an opportunity to bounce back from such a heavy defeat, who before last Tuesday had not lost a game in 2023. Huddersfield heading in to the match have several injury problems to contend with, both sides could be without several key players.

“I could do with an easier one if I’m honest, but I’ll be saying that every game,” Warnock added. When you’ve had a bad game you want to get up and off. I was in yesterday for hours looking at the disappointment of Saturday again but really it was self-inflicted. I’m not into stats but apparently we did quite well yesterday until we conceded that goal.“

“The squad is what it is. It’s a bit imbalanced from the outside. We need to roll up our sleeves and get on with it. We have a horrendous injury list but we have to get on with it.”