City Chat: Boos were fully justified after Preston defeat

But unfortunately, City just weren’t at the races from the word go.

It was a near carbon copy of the home game with Preston last season, also in November, when the Lancashire side contained us well and hit on the break.

It is deeply concerning that Head Coach Lee Johnson doesn’t seem to have learnt how to beat teams of this ilk at Ashton Gate.

Going into the match Preston were without an away win this season and no team in the Championship had conceded more goals.

Yet City barely laid a glove on their opponents aside from a few early crosses into the box. Our play was pedestrian and lacked urgency and dynamism. Ex-City loanee Callum Robinson scored in this fixture last season and he managed the feat again on 35 minutes after finishing a pass from Daniel Johnson.

Although City largely controlled possession, incredibly we didn’t have a shot on target until the 83rd minute.

That is deeply concerning given the game was against a side that have been struggling on the road and conceding lots of goals.

It seemed a case of Johnson worrying too much about how to counter the strengths of the opposition instead of concentrating on implementing our strengths. Boos rang out at the final whistle and I have to say they were fully justified.

Johnson apologised to fans after the game and stated, “I'm upset because I want the fans to see a performance full of energy, brightness and gumption and they didn't get that today."

It was a long way off the required standard and Johnson now must work hard on his charges to ensure they perform a lot better on returning to league action following the international break.

City are sat in 13th place in the Championship. They are six points off the play-off places but are only six points clear of the relegation zone.

Johnson's side face a difficult trip to third place Leeds United after the international break with the game taking place on Saturday, November 24.