Let’s start with the two-goal hero, it’s not the first time Rob’s shown his attacking instinct he’s a centre-back with goals in him...
Look, he needed a response like anybody else. The important thing in regard to Rob is that he’s very capable but sometimes he doesn’t always show it, so he needed a good game tonight so it’s good for him to score the two goals but more importantly for me he showed a response after the weekend which is good.”
That’s what you wanted from all of them, and I think you got it from them from the first couple of minutes...
From the kick-off Tommy Conway won the ball back and that sets the scene.
Just going back to Rob, he likes to dribble a bit, doesn’t he?
Look, he’s in there to defend and we didn’t do it particularly well at the weekend. So first and foremost, players need to understand why they’re in the side. So, Rob, what he brings in possession is something else, but first and foremost he was a part of a backline that showed a lot of commitment tonight.
I thought Timm did okay for his first full game. I thought Zak was very good too, so we needed to get ourselves back into winning ways and that’s the most important thing tonight. I’m not going to spend all night now talking about how positive and how rosy things are because that performance at the weekend was too far away from what we’re about and tonight was more like it.
It was a pretty reserved atmosphere in the first half in particular, but I thought the players dealt with that well, so without creating too many chances we were well on top in the game. Disappointing not to keep a clean sheet but we were a bit unlucky with that one actually. It was a good all-round team effort and response and that’s all I’m bothered about tonight.
You made a change in goal and Max O’Leary’s done himself a lot of credit, with one save in particular.
Again, when players get a chance it’s up to them. So, at the weekend again we had a difficult day at the back including the goalkeeper. So, Max gets a chance, and I thought generally speaking he did pretty well.
It’s a change in goal but also a decision to drop your captain, how did Dan take your decision?
I’ve not spent a lot of time worrying about that to be honest with you. It’s never easy to drop your captain but I make decisions that are right for the team and that’s it. There’s nothing else to be said on that.
Back on Rob you said about his character to come back with that performance, does that sum him up as a person because he is a bit of an introvert on the pitch?
It remains a bit of a frustration, I don’t take any pleasure from having a go at players. Players need to be proactive themselves and he’s scored the goals today that have allowed us to win the game. But for me, more importantly he was keen to play well and defend well and that’s what he’s in the team for.
Was that the collective response you were looking for?
Both. Are you on about the players? Rob needed to respond but the players collectively yeah, we’re a team so when players don’t have a good day they can still contribute to the team.
What can it do for the confidence?
Well, we’ll find out at the weekend.
Did you think in the first half they did lack a little bit of confidence on the ball?
You’re joking, aren’t you? You’re having a laugh. I thought we passed it brilliantly.
I thought it started really well but Preston came into the game.
You’ve got to expect it, they’re a side who passes the ball and got some really good players. No, I thought we played some good football. I thought in midfield we used the ball particularly well. I think from the back we used the ball pretty well. We passed it a lot more in the first half than we did in the second. But we were very dangerous in the second half.
A quick one on Kane Wilson, how long is he out for?
Four months, something like that.
How’s he doing? He must be incredibly frustrated with that?
I’ve not actually spoken to him yet so hopefully I’ll see him tomorrow.
Have you forgiven them for the weekend yet?
Forgiven them? It’s not about forgiveness.
You still seem quite angry about it...
It’s frustrating that we need to have a response, that’s what it is. Hopefully the players will have got something out of tonight that is more than just the win. They’ll understand what’s required every time we play. If we’ve got serious, I don’t know where we are tonight in terms of league position.”
11th...
Yeah, I was going to say I imagine we’re in the top half and now people look at it in a different way, possibly, I don’t know. But we’ve allowed certain games to pass us by that is frustrating, so we’ll see what happens at the weekend. But I’m really pleased for the players tonight and I’m very pleased for our fans, but more importantly we got back to winning ways which we needed to do.
We saw that reaction from the players on the pitch. We didn’t see that reaction from the players left out, what’s that reaction been like in training?
There’s not been a lot of two-way conversations, let’s put it like that.
Do you think teams are sitting back a bit more at Ashton Gate this season?
Well, they are a team that play in a deep block; they don't press you particularly high up because they are a decent counter-attacking side so you have to think about different team's style of play. They've had a lot of success doing that and I thought our wing-backs were better than theirs tonight and had we found a bit more quality with the end product we would have created more chances.
I think our pace and ability to mix our own style up was beneficial during the game. Going from being possession-based to being counter-attacking ourselves, we're better when we play at a good tempo.
It looked like you were going to bring on Nahki a bit earlier...
Well, we were worried about Andi having a tight calf but it turned out to be a knock so you have to be prepared for things like that.
You obviously didn't make many changes then it was late on with Nahki, what was the thinking behind that?
To change the shape, to go 5-4-1. I don't make changes for the sake of it. I think that's the thing about it.
At the weekend we made three changes at half-time because the team needed something. Tonight it was more about, we found our feet in the game and we tried to keep it going.
And Tommy Conway obviously started the season on fire in terms of goals, he's hit a bit of a dry spell but the effort and application he put in today especially after being substituted at half-time on Saturday, where's he at in terms of his development?
He's having a good, full breakthrough season. I think he made his debut two seasons ago. He had a difficult season last year with injury. He's a good player. He knows what he's good at, he's a really good finisher and he enjoys working hard and I like that.
On Timm Klose, he brought a calming influence at the back...
He headed the ball for a start, we didn't do that at the weekend.
Timm's an experienced player and I would expect him to be able to come in and have a positive influence so he's been missing since the start of the season. We're now in October and it's nice to have him available, I thought he did okay tonight.
There was a challenge that went in on Alex Scott near the technical area that got an animated response, do you think the referee should have punished the Preston player? Did it look bad from where you were sitting?
Yeah, it did. It didn't look particularly good but Keith (Stroud) was adamant he got the ball but we saw it in a different way.
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