Nigel Pearson believes his Bristol City side have made progress in developing the dark arts but says there is still plenty of room for improvement, citing the example of promotion-hopefuls Luton Town.
The Robins manager has spoken about the necessity for his side to become more street-wise, especially during last season and the beginning of this campaign, following a history of conceding late goals. There's been little doubt that has improved on the previous campaign.
Last season, City conceded 19 per cent (15/77) of their goals in the last 10 minutes of games. This time around, that now sits at five per cent (5/56).
City forward Harry Cornick revealed in an interview last month that City need to continue finessing that side of the game if they want to become play-off challengers next season. The 28-year-old knows what it takes for a side to be successful, having been part of the Luton side that earned back-to-back promotions from League Two to the Championship, while featuring 38 times as the Hatters reached the play-offs last season under Nathan Jones.
It was a take Pearson was in agreement with and he delved into how that attitude can be implemented into his side, including having "one or two thugs" among the squad to help educate the younger players.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of Monday's game with QPR, he said: "I think we've got better but there's still work to do.
"Having said that, that's one of the trade-offs with having younger players and also some of our more senior players, you've heard me say it in the past, I quite like one or two thugs around the place - they're quite handy on a matchday.
"There are areas to improve but it doesn't take too much to shift that if you get the person in who is able to teach a bit of that. Players are the best coaches. Younger players will listen more to the senior players than they will to me.
"It comes from learning from experiences. I think that's how most of us learn. If I just tell you something, you might go 'yea' and get it but you only really get it when you do it and find out 'Yeah, now I know how it feels.'
"It's not about knowing it and understanding it, it's about feeling it too. We've come up against that, especially when we played Luton away where they were on the day, exactly what they are and that is a really competent Championship side with players who know how to tweak the game and the rules. But in the best possible way, in a gamesmanship way."
It does pose a question of whether delving into the market to sign a player of that ilk will be part of the recruitment process over the summer. City are eager to get their business completed early with former player Joe Bryan, Aberdeen's Ross McCrorie and centre-back Jake O'Brien all targets. AFC Wimbledon's 21-year-old left-back Jack Currie is also an option but is likely to be identified as a longer-term project.
Having had to work within a stringent budget in the past, City will have cash to spend this summer but Pearson was keen to dampen expectations about what could happen, raising the possibility of an "interesting situation" should offers come in for some of their players.
He said: "We’ll still be spinning plates. We’ll still be trying to keep the books balanced, don’t worry about that.
"It’s not going to be one where all of a sudden there’s a limitless amount of resources, it’s not like that. There may be opportunities to trade, but as I said before we want to try and keep our best players.
"I’m aware Phil (CEO Phil Alexander) made a comment in an interview where he said decisions will be made when decisions have to be made. I don’t disagree with that, it’s one where I don’t want people to make expectations about what will happen this summer because we may have to resist offers for other players. It will be an interesting situation if it arises.”
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