Manning hails the resilience of his Bristol City team

Liam Manning was a happy – and probably more than a little relieved man – after his Bristol City side got a much needed three points against the Swans yesterday afternoon thanks to Rob Dickie’s second half header.

It was a rare attempt at goal in a game that highlighted the shortfalls in both teams and whilst Manning was happy with the way his team bounced back after four straight defeats.

The Robins conceded more than 70% possession to the Swans but saw us achieve no shots on target at all during the ninety minutes although it should not comfort Manning too much when the statistics show just two from his side which sums up their own struggles this season.

The win though did give Bristol City a league double over the Swans this season and lifted them to the relative comfort of 13th place in the table significantly reducing their fears of being dragged into a relegation scrap into the process.

“When you go through a tough experience like we have, what it does is it brings you closer together and if you don’t use the tough times to reflect and learn and get better, then you’re not going to improve,” Manning said. “Off the back of the run we’ve had recently, you’ve got to stop it at some point, it can’t continue.

“Understandably, I think that’s what you saw in the first half; it was cagey, edgy, anxious and rightly so. It’s difficult when you’re emotionally invested and you care to worry about things but that was the message before the game, ‘live in the present’, don’t worry about future outcomes or what’s happened in the past; we can’t change the past and we can’t control the future, all we can do is live in the moment and stay in control emotionally, do your jobs, stick to the plan and believe in each other.

“For me, I know we lost four, but I think we’ll be a better team for it in the fact it’s made us tighter and made us more resilient.

“We were never going to stop the run we were on with a beautiful, free-flowing victory, it was always a case of being together, organised and, at half-time, I actually praised the lads for the first half, they did an excellent job; the message was come in at half-time and be in it, and we were.

“Then it was about staying calm, being a little more aggressive with it and being a little bit more front-footed, at times trying to jump on the keeper a bit more. What they want to do is detach your midfielders from their front players so if you continually press and give them success, then you shift the momentum in their favour.

“I have to give credit to the lads for sticking together, for believing in each other and buying into the plan. When you start to get a bit of success and the anxiety disappears out of the game, then you can obviously be a bit more confident and I think you saw that with a bit more quality on the ball.”