Nigel Pearson says the huge strides his Bristol City defenders have made over the course of the season have encouraged him to play with a back four having previously opted for a three-man central defence with wing-backs.
The City manager, particularly during the second half of last season and the first portion of this one, maintained his stance to play with a five by reinforcing the message that it was the system that best suited the players at his disposal.
During half-time in the FA third round tie against Swansea last month, with the Robins trailing, Pearson switched his formation to a 4-3-3 for the first time this season. It made an instant impact with Antoine Semenyo sending the tie to a replay to help maintain the unbeaten run.
In the six games and five wins that have followed, Pearson has stuck with a four while utilising the experience of Tomas Kalas from the substitutes' bench to help see out the game. Not only has the four-man defence of George Tanner, Zak Vyner, Rob Atkinson and Cam Pring continued to build confidence and understanding - emphasised by the clean sheet against Norwich City on Saturday - it has also allowed the likes of Mark Sykes and Sam Bell to thrive in advanced areas.
Sykes has scored five goals in his last six matches while Bell, playing on the left, has four in five having broken into the senior ranks. When asked whether the strides his defenders have made contributed to the formation change, Pearson responded: "The simple answer is yes. One of the reasons in games recently, we've had another defender in there to try and keep things tight towards the end.
"It's about doing that to protect something. The bigger picture is in the earlier part of the season, we felt we needed to play with a three at the back, have three in midfield and have two upfront.
"What you lose with that is width. Hence why we've played with more expansive wide players in that system. It's always about trying to balance it. Sometimes individuals become casualties of systems. I always have been and always will think more about players' needs more than what my preference is.
"I've played in a back five myself, I was brought up in that in the 80s. It's not something I particularly like. I like playing two up top but I also like that at the moment we have forwards when our strengths are playing with a three.
"It doesn't matter what I like. It's about what our squad gives us the best chance of doing and we have a squad of players at the minute who are really quite adaptable. What it doesn't do is, it doesn't pigeonhole us into any sort of category in terms of having to do this or having to do that.
"We have a number of players who are really versatile but we have a squad of players who are able to play in different ways and I think that is something which is a strength of ours. So I'm relatively happy with how things are moving forward but we're still miles away from what we want to be.
"Whenever you make decisions in terms of changing shape, there are big risks with that. Of course, there are. One of the biggest risks is that you come unstuck at the first attempt of that.
"Like I say, it's easy to make those decisions when you've got intelligent players and you have players that are onside. Even when payers don't necessarily like the way you're playing if they're onside they'll do everything they can to make sure the team functions in front of themselves and that is something we've worked hard to try and develop."
Vyner's improvement in comparison to last season has been hugely impressive having added consistency to his game alongside Atkinson. Tanner is continuing to develop impressively at right-back while Pring is another whose form makes him undroppable at the minute.
Alongside Max O'Leary in goal, the average age of the back five is just 24, meaning those group of players are either hitting their prime or approaching it. When asked if they can form a bedrock to build a long-term partnership into the future, Pearson added: "Again, there's no point in trying to make a statement like that because we'll always try to improve.
"Whenever you try to build a squad and improve a squad it means everybody is up for replacement or renewal if the route doesn't continue at the pace that you want.
"So, yes it's a really promising situation that we have. That we have younger players currently filling places that are really important in the side. Some of those players have made huge strides just this season alone - never mind the last two or three.
"When you consider it in those terms, I think for the football club in particular, not just us in the present. For the football club, it's a promising situation but promising doesn't mean actual. It's about trying to move from A to B and it's about not being complacent about that."
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