Bristol City weren’t perfect against Millwall, but they didn’t need to be. Nigel Pearson needed a reaction from his squad and he got one, not through blood and thunder or exhilarating open and attacking football but with organisation, discipline and professionalism, the sort of pillars he’s based a lot of his managerial career on.
The way a team defends can often reveal a lot about a squad’s mindset as to be a consistently resolute side it requires constant focus and concentration, which can only be achieved if everyone is on message.
Of course, a strong argument can be made that for much of this season, and even last term, the opposite has occurred, with City shipping goals at an alarming rate, whoever being assigned to play in defence almost doomed to commit a horrendous unforced error at some point.
But at least at The Den there were significant signs that Pearson’s players are very much switched on to what’s required of them to secure results and start to climb the Championship table again, away from the fear and threat of the bottom three.
City’s backline certainly looked more balanced with George Tanner recalled to right wing-back, having fallen out of the previous two line-ups after starting at Rotherham as a right-sided centre-back. And the notable re-inclusion of Rob Atkinson as the central defender in a three, with Pearson largely tending to favour him to the left.
Both had good games, Atkinson in particular with a crucial block to force Andreas Voglsammer’s goalbound shot onto the crossbar.
Much has been understandably made of the 25-year-old’s absence from the starting XI after suffering illness in the wake of an injury but he looks set to retain his place against Coventry City on New Year’s Day.
So too Tanner who unlike Atkinson hasn’t been the subject of the same level of debate but, much like his approach on the field, just quietly went about his business against the Lions and should line up again in that role at the CBS Arena.
Pearson had been using Andi Weimann out there, to allow Alex Scott through the middle and bolster that area of the park while also ensuring the Austrian was in the starting XI in some shape or form, it's not a position however that draws the best out of him, or City for that matter.
“It’s not that I don’t care but I don’t spend too much time worrying about if people are a bit disgruntled if they’re not playing, it’s what the team needs that’s more important,” Pearson told BBC Radio Bristol. “It’s up to players to respond in the right way.
“If you consider somebody like George who played at Rotherham and hasn’t played the two since, he’s just got on with it. He had some difficult moments but he did some good things too.
“When he was in forward positions he did something positive. Sometimes when he’s in his own half or on the halfway line he tends to be safe. But he’s a young player and he’s learning and I’m pleased for him that he’s come back into the side and done a decent job. That’s all it’s about - players doing the job they’re supposed to do.
“Rob looked comfortable through the middle, he was always going to be in contention because he’s our best headerer of the ball. There aren’t too many sides at this level that play direct football. It used to be the staple diet, now it’s something you don’t see too often.
“He got a really good block in the first half and I thought the three at the back look quite assured.”
Coventry will represent a different kind of challenge to Millwall's overtly direct approach but it seems unlikely that Pearson will tinker with the team or system that lined up in south east London.
Atkinson’s previous left-sided berth has now been occupied by Kal Naismith with the Scot looking increasingly comfortable in that area than he did as the centrepiece of the defence.
The 30-year-old was a key player in possession for City in the early parts of the season but as opposition teams grew wise to what he was providing, he soon found himself smothered by strikers pressing from the front and it led to a number of high-profile errors.
After his calf injury, Naismith has now settled into a familiar role - having made his name there for Luton Town last season - and it affords him that extra bit of space away from central attackers looking to immediately close him down, and gives City better spacing when in possession. The angles he adopts also open the field up for the Scot to send in those inviting crosses and diagonals that previously had largely been limited to set-pieces.
“I’m feeling great, especially the past two games, I feel full back to it. I’m seeing stuff that little bit quicker than I probably did in the first couple of games,” Naismith said. “We’re struggling for results, we’re disappointed since we’ve come back that we’ve won one with two defeats and it’s not good enough for the talent that we’ve got, we all know that.
“Everyone in the building, from the coaching staff to the players, we know we need to produce more but it’s only us players who can do it on the pitch so we had a chat - it was a tough few days - and I think we said there after the game, that’s the bare minimum.”
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