It’s a statistic that makes Dan Bentley visibly wince as it’s read out: 14 games since Bristol City last kept a clean sheet.
December 4 seems a long time ago, not just in a football sense but the world itself and only reinforces the Robins defensive struggles since then. Granted, Bentley hasn’t been part of the team for 10 of those matches but he still takes that run deeply personally, in his role as team captain and also a part of the goalkeeping department.
How exactly City go about solving their inadvertent generosity to the opposition is a complex matter; intense work has been done at the Robins High Performance Centre, in terms of honing systems and reactions to situations. A “tough week” as Nigel Pearson framed it.
But, as Bentley admits, there’s only so much that can be achieved on the training ground and such is the near-infinite number of different scenarios that can unfold over the course of the 90 minutes, a defence can’t be truly tested until a match takes place.
One aspect that can be worked on and developed, that in Bentley’s mind forms the fundamentals of any good defensive team is an aggressive mentality. That desire for an element of nastiness to the play, that not only influences your own performance but also that of the opposition.
“First and foremost, wanting to keep the ball out of the net,” was Bentley’s immediate response when asked what makes a good defensive unit. “That is a prerequisite for any defender, any goalkeeper, any defensive-minded player, in my opinion.
“I think we have defenders who want to do that. There’s not one defender in this team who I would question and I think, ‘yeah, he’s not committed’. We have full commitment and full honesty, 100 per cent. And I don’t think there’s any question marks over that.
“Do we make mistakes as individuals, yes; do we make team collective mistakes, yes; do we get undone through quality at times, yes, and that’s going to happen.
“We’ve conceded way too many goals. In terms of what we need to do, it’s a little bit of nous, experience and reading situations a little earlier and being more proactive at times.
“If the ball is a cutback zone, do we defend the space or the man? Those are split second decisions you need to get right more often than not to not concede goals.
“If there’s a chance that we read a situation and one centre-half may make a mistake or miss a header, is the other centre-half or full-back covering around to look after his mate?
“Those are all kinds of things we need to read quickly and make quick decisions on, ‘can I help my teammate?’ At times, as a team, we can also soak pressure up better. In those times we can do things, slow the game down and be a bit more nasty.
“If we can master the dark arts, and that might sound very old school, very cliche. But if we can be really nasty to play against where strikers and attackers know they’re in for a game and you can affect their mindset with how we set-up and react, that’s only going to be a benefit.
“It’s not something you can breed. We’ve got some really nice lads in the dressing room but in terms how we stand up, it can be little things; if you win a header, go and punch it 50 yards back down the opposition’s throat, get us up; the way we talk to each other, it can be aggressive; the way we go into tackles, have controlled aggression.
“All those little things that make a big difference in terms of the mentality that you can change the way a game’s going with how aggressive you can be defensively.”
Bentley is now back in the side having won his place back and although that shutout still eludes the Robins, the return of the 28-year-old has made a difference, albeit mainly in keeping the scoreline down in the 2-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest.
He has previously admitted he “hated” being out of the starting XI but used the time away from the intensity of matchdays to work on his game and in the gym, staying professional and waiting for his chance to come again.
He neglected to say precisely what was disclosed in the meeting between him and Pearson that led to his demotion but it led to a brief period of self-reflection - “an investment in myself” as he puts it - followed by the quick readjustment of being a supportive No2 and with the mission of winning his shirt back.
“I’ve always been quite mentally strong but, of course, when you get left out of the team you ask questions of yourself; I wanted feedback from Pat Mountain, I wanted feedback from the gaffer,” Bentley added.
“I wanted to understand what more I could do, what wasn’t going right. I wanted to understand what the situation was. So for me, at the start, getting the information was the main thing and then it was about getting over it and supporting Max in the best way possible, because that was the best thing for the team at that period in time.
“As soon as I walked out of the chat with the manager it was about getting my shirt back and working my backside off to get it, while being respectful of Max.
“It gave me an impetus to have the bit between my teeth and work as hard as I can 24/7 - in terms of how I live my life and in the gym - to get my shirt back. I’ve played my whole career and that’s what drives me. I want to play football and I love being involved in the high-pressure moments, I don’t want to be a No2.”
His absence coincided with City playing a more possession-focused and pass-driven style of play, with Pearson encouraging his team to be “braver” in possession. Certainly towards the end of Bentley’s first run in the side this season it became evident the goalkeeper was assigned at having to be direct in his distribution.
With the ball in hand or from goal-kicks, Bentley’s primary objective was going long downfield and looking to hit Chris Martin. It proved an approach that not only became a tough and frustrating watch but also predictable.
Now with the craft of Alex Scott in midfield coming to the fore and Antoine Semenyo’s mobility adding an extra dimension to the attack, City are just easier on the eye and Bentley is happy to fit into that dynamic. If anything, it’s something he would prefer to do than lumping it 60 yards up the pitch each time.
“We’ve tried to play more,” he said. “Play through the thirds from goal-kicks and recycling the ball from pass-backs and if we can work through the midfield into the final third of the pitch, while we’re attacking.
“You’ve seen how many goals we’ve scored and the free-flowing attacking football we’ve played, that’s a noticeable difference, and that’s something I’m more than happy with.
“I played for Brentford prior to Bristol City and that was a ‘nothing but football’ message, so I’m more than comfortable fulfilling that quarterback role, if you like, with regards to playing out from the back.
“That’s my responsibility to be able to come into the team and play that role and that’s something I’m happy to do. If we can add to what we’re doing,with regards to the attacking play, and be more resolute, more clean sheets and you’ll be looking at us getting more positive results and being more of a threat in terms of our league position.”
City remain in 17th in the Championship amid a campaign riddled with inconsistency and the total inability to put any kind of run of form together, most notably having not recorded back-to-back wins since February 27, 2021.
As they take on 20th-placed Birmingham City there is a danger of the season fizzling out, similar to last term, whereby safe from harm, the Robins begin to look to the summer and 2022/23, as well-worn phrases such as being “on the beach” come to mind.
But Bentley insists, and he speaks with authority and a genuine tone, that City should be focused on these 11 matches in not only addressing their disappointing league position and obvious deficiencies in the team but also creating some momentum heading into the next campaign.
With one win in eight games and injury problems at both ends of the pitch, Blues' visit to Ashton Gate represents as good an opportunity as any to put that into practice.
“Nobody wants to go through the end of the season with an indifferent or average vein of form, where you have nothing to play for, and a wishy-washy pre-season feel - nobody wants that,” Bentley said.
“We want to be challenging, we want to make sure we’re being as successful as we can be, as a club and as a team; we need to do ourselves justice and we need to do justice for the fans with regards to what they expect from us, and what we expect from ourselves.
“So we’ll be doing our utmost to improve on what we have been, so far this season. I think if we’re all honest, we have seen improvements. I think if you look now compared to the start of the season and the back-end of last season, I’ll definitely say that.
“Of course, there’s still a lot of work to do but there are definitely reasons to be happy with some of the things we have achieved, albeit there are still things we need to work on that we have the last 11 games of the season to make sure we go into the next season with momentum. We want to finish as high as possible and make it a positive transitional season.”
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