Nigel Pearson doesn't believe Alex Scott's potential final game at Ashton Gate weighed on his mind after the midfielder had a difficult afternoon in the 2-1 defeat against Burnley.
The 19-year-old talent, heavily linked with a summer exit to the Premier League and more recently with Brighton, had a rare off day including a costly mistake to allow Jay Rodriguez to score his winner moments after Tommy Conway's equaliser.
By his high standards, Scott had a quiet game and he was substituted in the 70th minute, replaced by Nahki Wells as City looked for a route back into the game. On his departure off the field to a standing ovation, Pearson put his arm around his shoulder and had a word in his ear before he took his place on the bench.
When asked what was said after his substitution, Pearson said: "Well done. Well done, don’t worry about it.
"Look, you can't expect players to you on a trajectory of success continually. In life, we all have to deal with setbacks and disappointment and it's how you deal with those that ultimately decide how successful you’ll be and how good you are at whatever you do for a living.
"People like Scotty and Tommy (Conway) have had really positive impacts on the team, but they're going to make mistakes because they're only human beings. Our job as staff is to support them and help them negotiate good and bad times.
"Our job as staff is to support them and help them negotiate good and bad times. When things are going well it’s important to keep players grounded and when things go slightly awry it’s more important to give them support and positive feedback and help them find solutions.
"There’s not a player who’s ever played who hasn’t had either a loss of form or has made mistakes. I don’t judge him for that, he’s been brilliant.”
City fell behind in the first half when Manuel Benson cut in on his left foot and arrowed an unstoppable strike into the top corner. There was a notable gulf in class in the opening 45 minutes, but City responded in a positive fashion in the second half.
Andi Weimann made a positive impact on his introduction and it was his assist for Conway that gave the hosts lift-off in front of over 24,000 spectators. Two minutes later, Scott's loose pass was controlled by Rodriguez who buried his effort into the corner.
Pearson added: "In the second half I thought we were pretty good and we didn’t do enough with our possession in the first half. Disappointed with the two goals really.
"We talked all week about not letting him come inside on his left peg but there we go, so that was disappointing. The second goal potentially knocks the stuffing out of us but we responded really well. they’ve been in a decent game today.
"We're disappointed not to finish our home campaign with a positive result because I think we've put a lot of effort into our performances and today I was pleased with how we continued to stretch them by being positive.
"I think the substitutes all had a positive impact on the game and that’s something that is a huge improvement from previous seasons. Whether we've had a young bench or are experienced one like today, the players that go on you know will give what the team needs, our biggest progression this year is the identity of this team and the level of performance and how we go about the games now is a lot more positive."
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