Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson felt his side were a little bit unlucky not to take something from their 1-0 defeat to the Blues at Ashton Gate following what he believed as a very tight match.
Nathan Broadhead’s 16th-minute goal was enough to see the Blues to the three points and their fifth win out of six on the road in the Championship this season.
"I think we were a little bit unlucky tonight, I think we’ve played well. I can’t ask a lot more of the players in terms of how they approached the game,” Pearson, who was in the running to become Town boss in 2006, said afterwards.
"I think we started the game really well, you can see how they’re a good side. I think it was a very tight game of football, I don’t think there was too much in the game.
"I’m a bit disappointed with the goal that we conceded just based on the fact that it came out of nothing, really.
"But when you’ve played against sides who are on a really good run themselves, those key moments in terms of taking chances, it was just a really positive performance from both sides, a really good game of football.
"We were a bit unlucky, but having said that, both sides had lots of opportunities or created dangerous opportunities.”
He added: "When you’re playing in really tight games against good sides, obviously you’ve got to be there in the moment to take those chances.
"We’ve created pressure on a side who are doing exceptionally well in the league. They’ve carried their momentum forward, you can see that they are a very compact group of people in terms of not just the team but the team behind the team.
"They’ve got a positive atmosphere going, and you can see that. But I think they’ll be quite happy to go away tonight with the three points because they’ll know they’ve been in a game.
"If they say anything other than that then they’re pulling the wool over people’s eyes personally, because I think we stretched them right to the limit. And we put them under pressure like a lot of sides haven’t done this season.”
Pearson, who laughed ruefully when asked how Harry Cornick’s effort which struck the post, then Vaclav Hladky didn’t cross the line - "I’ve got no idea!” - in the second half was asked what he made of Town.
"I can see why they’re up there, and it’s not just about performances, it’s about atmosphere, and I can see why they’re in a good run,” he said.
"They’ve got some good players, of course. It will interesting to see whether they can sustain it for the whole of the season but I don’t look at it in terms of ‘the best side’ or stuff like that.
"I think they are a very competent team, I think they play with a lot of togetherness, which I think is very important and on top of that they’ve got some real match winners in the side. A good side, but a long way to go.”