Nigel Pearson bemoans lack of reliable centre-backs as another ‘soft’ goal costs Bristol City
Pearson #Pearson
Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson says his side will continue to concede soft goals because he doesn’t have reliable defenders in his side.
The Robins were dominant against Paul Heckingbottom’s promotion hopefuls throughout but despite the ongoing pressure, they failed to take their chances in front of goal. Andi Weimann hit the bar in the first half before George Tanner saw a thunderous effort cannon back off the post.
City had 16 attempts on goal in total in comparison to Sheffield United’s four but it was the visitors who took their rare opportunity at the beginning of the second half.
Zak Vyner’s clearance was recycled by the visitors who worked the ball out to the right. A deep cross saw George Tanner and Vyner challenge for the same ball which then fell into the path of the unmarked Iliman Ndiaye at the back post.
Billy Sharp did appear marginally offside in the build-up but Pearson wasn’t looking for excuses in his post-match press conference as he focused his attention on his central defenders.
He said: “Again, the chances we had we should have converted them but we didn’t and we concede another poor goal.
“The reason why we haven’t won tonight is we didn’t take our chances and we’ve conceded a soft goal and that’s us this season.
“Generally speaking our forwards have been very clinical and when we’ve needed them to be able to convert tonight. The worst thing that we should be talking about here is a 0-0. That’s what we should be talking about but unfortunately, we’ve made another defensive error and we lose the game 1-0.
“I can’t fault the player’s effort and commitment but until we are able to field defenders who are able to be efficient so that you don’t even notice them, we will be that type of side.
“We will be a side that always concedes soft goals because we don’t have the quality back there. And that’s what it is.”
With Rob Atkinson ill, Tomas Kalas and Kal Naismith both out with calf injuries, Pearson opted for the same central defensive trio in Tanner, Vyner and Cam Pring that impressed in the 1-1 draw with Swansea at the weekend.
Timm Klose returned to the squad following illness but was named on the bench and when asked if he was close to coming into the starting XI, Pearson responded: “No, because he’s been out of form too.
“So we don’t have defenders who are reliable at the moment. That’s the problem.”
Pearson was then quizzed on how many reliable defenders he believes he has in his squad and he replied: “Reliable in the way that I want for centre-backs? They’ve all got their flaws and they’ve all got their strengths.
“At the moment, our most reliable defender looks like one who was leaving in the summer and that’s Zak. There you go.”
Tanner’s sending-off in stoppage time, in which Pearson had no complaints about, leaves City light of defensive options heading into Saturday’s trip to Middlesbrough. The City manager will be hoping Atkinson recovers from his illness although he conceded he has no idea about the timespan on his recovery.
“No idea with Rob. A lot of it with Rob is if he wants to push through it so he’s ill but, I don’t know.”
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