Two identikit first-half headers from Aden Flint saw Bristol City to a 2-1 victory over the Blues at Ashton Gate, sub Brett Pitman pulling one back for Town after the break against his old club.

Town boss Mick McCarthy handed Ben Pringle and Kevin Foley their Blues debuts in a 3-5-2 system with Foley and Jonas Knudsen wing-backs and Christophe Berra in the middle of the three central defenders. Kevin Bru took up Cole Skuse’s usual anchor role in midfield with the Bristolian one of those on Town’s lengthy injury list.

Chances were rare in the opening quarter of an hour, Pringle shot against a defender, then the on-loan Fulham man saw a cross from the left cut out.

Bristol City went close to going in front in the 17th minute when a Luke Freeman freekick was cleared to Korey Smith, who hit a shot through a crowd of players which took a deflection and Bartosz Bialkowski, last week’s man of the match at QPR, made a superb reaction save down to his left to keep it out.

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But three minutes later, the Robins went in front when Flint headed the first goal of new manager Lee Johnson’s time as boss, across goal and into the net off the post from Luke Freeman’s corner on the right.

Freddie Sears shot wide after good work from Pringle and Sears as the Blues looked to get back on terms, then Bristol City skipper Smith curled a shot not far past the post.

There was a scare for the home side on 27 when keeper Richard O’Donnell’s clearance hit Maitland-Niles, but the on-loan Arsenal man was unable to profit from it.

The Blues switched their formation to 4-4-2 with Foley moving to the centre of midfield with Bru and skipper Luke Chambers to right-back. Pringle moved to the left with Maitland-Niles on the right.

On 33, with Town increasingly on top, Tommy Smith shot wide following a corner, but two minutes later the home side doubled their lead with Flint again the man on target, once again heading home a Freeman corner from the right.

The Blues were unable to pull a goal back before the break and the scoreline remained 2-0 at half-time. That both goals came from set pieces is unlikely to have gone down well with manager McCarthy.

Eight minutes after the restart, former Robin Brett Pitman replaced Ainsley Maitland-Niles, allowing Sears to move to right midfield. Moments later, Smith did well to block Kodjia’s shot from the right of the area.

Daryl Murphy chased a ball over the top in the 55th minute and hit a shot which O’Donnell did well to block. From the resultant corner, Chambers headed over, while being manhandled according to the Blues captain.

The Blues were beginning to threaten more and more and just after the hour mark Murphy forced O’Donnell into a superb save from a powerful header down to the keeper’s left from Sears’s cross from the right.

Pringle sent the ball back in from the left, Murphy nodded back across goal and Pitman flicked his header wide.

But the ex-Bristol City man wasn’t to be denied a goal for long. In the 62nd minute Murphy sent the Jersey-born striker away on goal towards the left and he held off his man before shooting low across O’Donnell and into the net to claim his 10th goal of the season.

As promised, Town’s reluctant super sub celebrated against his old club but without going over the top.

Luke Varney replaced promising debutant Pringle on 67, seconds before Freeman sent a dangerous ball across the Blues area.

The Robins were looking the more threatening side with Bialkowski making another impressive stop when he pushed sub Kieran Agard’s low shot past the post, before Bristol City skipper Smith screwed an effort across the face of goal.

Foley picked up the first yellow card of his time with Town for a somewhat cynical pullback on Agard as the home side broke following a corner.

On 76 Smith seemed certain to restore the home side’s two-goal lead when he was found in space in the area but superbly got across to challenge.

Soon after, Bialkowski made another excellent save down to his right from Nathan Baker’s header from Marlon Pack’s freekick, although referee Tony Harrington had already blown his whistle for a foul.

With the game now in its final 10 minutes, a Varney cross from the right deflected out to Smith, who hit a powerful shot which flew just wide of O’Donnell’s goal.

But it was Bristol City who were looking the more dangerous side, Joe Bryan failing to find the target with a volley and Bialkowski making another save from Smith, although with the flag having been raised.

Larsen Touré replaced Foley as the game moved into five minutes of injury time, then - after Christophe Berra had found the net from but with the referee having pulled back play - Smith went close to putting the Blues back on terms. The New Zealand international did well to get to Knudsen’s freekick from deep but headed just wide.

However, the home side saw the rest of the additional minutes out comfortably and referee Harrington’s whistle confirmed Town’s fourth successive away defeat in all competitions, three in the Championship.

Having gone two goals down in the first half, the Blues always faced an uphill struggle. Pitman’s goal gave them a lifeline but despite having chances they never really put the Robins under significant pressure having reduced the lead, while at the other end the again excellent Bialkowski remained the busier of the two keepers.

The result and Birmingham’s 0-0 draw at Rotherham sees the Blues drop to eighth behind the Midlanders on goal difference and now three points behind Derby, who are now sixth following their 1-0 home defeat to the MK Dons, Sheffield Wednesday having climbed to fifth via their 4-0 victory over Brentford.

Bristol City: O’Donnell, Little, Flint, Baker, Golbourne, Pack, Smith (c), Tomlin (Agard 64), Bryan (Wagstaff 88), Freeman, Kodjia (Wilbraham 63). Subs: Fielding, Vyner, Pearce, Reid.

Town: Bialkowski, Foley (Touré 90), Chambers (c), Berra, Smith, Knudsen, Pringle (Varney 67), Bru, Maitland-Niles (Pitman 53), Sears, Murphy. Subs: Henly, Kenlock, Digby, Tabb. Referee: Tony Harrington (Cleveland). Att: 15,736 (Town: 1,443).

Photo: Action Images

Blue_Moses added 19:08 - Feb 13 Two awful away games in a row, nothing decent brought in. Ambitious teams like Derby are making changes but I guess we should be happy with top 12.
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essex57 added 19:12 - Feb 13 Agree Bert as I said when he signed his new contract it's only a bit of paper if another club poaches him they pay if Evans sacks him he pays up that's why I can't understand why certain people get so hot under the collar about contracts
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essex57 added 19:15 - Feb 13 Not sure Derby and ambition are good examples!
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halsteadblue added 19:15 - Feb 13 Deja vu from last season,why? when we have one of the richest men in the country,tight gitt.No ambition whatsoever so whats the bloody point,mid table here we come I hope your very happy Mr Evans we fans are most surely not.
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manualthetisfanclub added 19:20 - Feb 13 Said January would be make or break, well there you have it another season of promise at the start, now turning into another mediocre championship season. The lack of ambition to add quality is shocking compared to the others. Until the powers that be change their attitude and open the purse strings somewhat nothing will change!
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prebsa added 19:27 - Feb 13 Wrong Essex. If your comments have -5 or more which most of them do. Then 2 people can't possibly be 50% I know we said we would do colours this week but maybe a few numbers would be better instead!
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Keaneish added 19:32 - Feb 13 Essex57 - I think you answered your own point there. People are probably hot under the collar about the contract extension because I doubt Evans will stump up a lot of cash to want to pay them off which means we're stuck and they're on decent money. Let's hope we're wrong though as another 3 years of this type of football at this club terrifies me!
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essexbluey added 19:41 - Feb 13 I went today and iam angry mick has not got a clue what he is doing. Where will it all end because we def won't be going up this season.
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halsteadblue added 19:41 - Feb 13 With the TV money available now for those in the PL,plus those clubs like Hull etc in the championship who still have parachute payments,any club/owner who is not prepared to invest in the squad will NEVER EVER get out of this league FACT.
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essex57 added 19:52 - Feb 13 Prebsa don't want to do colours can we play football instead
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StowTractorBoy added 20:00 - Feb 13 I suppose forums such as this allow fans to let off steam and I have done it in the past. We have to however accept, and I've said it before we are a small Town Club with attendances averaging under 20,000. Even now we are punching way above our weight and perhaps those wanting Evans to depart can suggest who will buy him out. We are not a Derby a Sheffield Wednesday or a Middlesbrough who have either enjoyed parachute money or received massive income from a new owners with far greater wealth than Marcus Evans. Our magnificent history does not help the mood of today but we hugely over achieved in those glory years when income to Clubs was more of a level playing field. I am far from happy with what we are witnessing at the moment but any team in this league can beat any other team on their day. We are still in there with a shout of the play offs but we badly need all our players fit to help the cause. I am far from happy with the last two performances but I honestly do not believe a change at the helm will improve things.

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Kirbmeister added 20:07 - Feb 13 Well said StowTractorBoy - realism at last. You're right we are a mid table side at best and that's where we'll finish. I thing some people thing ME has millions sitting in the bank doing nothing but anyone in business knows this will be far from the truth. I've only read your blog and don't think I'll bother with the rest.
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dirtydingusmagee added 20:11 - Feb 13 there you go ,Ive been saying itffor ages ,[without knocking MM]the good ol days have goneMARK ME DOWN IF YOU LIKE fact is there is no real desire at top to go further than Championship, there is no money to invest to progrSees to or survive at higher level.The manager has his faults[who dosnt] but he has pulled us up from RELEGATION TO LEAGUE ONE ,and has kept us away from that so far,BUT that is as good as it will get under Marcus Evens,Like it or not we are not Premier league outfit those that think otherwise as much as i hate to say it are deluded.I have been a Town supporter for 50+ years seen good and bad times,and im afraid i doubt i'll ever see better than those good days in my life time.Respect to those who live in hope ,respect to those diamond supporters who travel miles at great expense to away matches.Im a TRUE BLUE.but im no longer believing better times will come .

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tomitfc added 20:14 - Feb 13 Utterly fed up of this, on paper we have a stronger squad than last year but we're nowhere near as good. And as for Marcus Evans.. How can we trust a man that doesn't want to be seen or heard..?!
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MadDog added 20:18 - Feb 13 Looks like our luck has finally run out! We all know the football has been awful all season apart from the odd glimpse of good play when we haven't hoofed the ball straight up to Murphy! The rest has been down to last few munutes of desperation & getting a lucky late goal. Complete lack of ambition shown by club to not bring anyone in in January to add a bit of creativity. Love to know if there is money available & MM doesn't want to spend it or if Evans doesn't want to get promoted. Time for serious change as we are exactly where we were when Evans took over-mid-table & going nowhere! In case I get abused for being negative I've been a fan for over 40 years & I'd rather lose & be entertained than endure the rubbish we're subjected to week in week out!

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essex57 added 20:18 - Feb 13 Agree Stowtractorboy think we should battle on for next seven games then if we've blown it start blooding the youngsters to give us a platform for next season.
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wayway added 20:46 - Feb 13 A question for Stowtractorboy: Are Leicester punching above their weight? Shows it can be done.
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prebsa added 20:56 - Feb 13 How odd Essex57 you want to play football but you were happy to do days of the week last time?!
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wayway added 21:01 - Feb 13 I am glad more people are waking up to the fact that Evans PLC (For Gods sake everyone must realise now there is no Marcus Evans) is the root cause of all our problems. You can bang on all day about our 90 million debt but if an owner was really interested in the club as a FOOTBALL club and not just a way of showing for a loss on the PLC balance sheet against tax then the debt would be irrelevant. As for McCarthy, he must know the score, that there will be no investment and no new players. It seems he is happy to live with this situation and pick up his new contract to see him to retirement. We keep hearing how good a football men he is, well in my opinion a good football man would resign under these circumstances. I am resigned to seeing this once great club decline further until the day we have new owners

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blueherts added 21:02 - Feb 13 tractorboy666 spot on !!! Said it in January that we HAVE TO reinforce the squad having lost Dids Bish Oar and Parr - Everyone can see that !! No money ? Hmm enough to line the pockets of MM and TC for a nice extended run MM is on a GREAT DEAL - Maybe he needs to have a little carrot dangled in front of him by ME - Yes we have 'progressed' over last few years in terms of position and this year for me was THE BIG ONE - Build on last season - sell Mings for big profit and use some to increase deals for likes of Murphy and Sears - based on last season and spend some money on much needed strenght I said three weeks ago if we lose Fraser we are up the creek It has become pretty frustrating to think that a £100m goal is obviously not of interest to ME I think too many people are bit too comfortable now - cant see much real desire to improve our lot - but sadly , maybe it is not surprising ME probably saw Mick successfully build a team on frees and £110k and thought that is the model we want ? Listen , when I look at DERBY i see a club in turmouil and proves BIG spending is not the answer - All I am asking is , if we lose 4 players from an already thin squad we HAVE TO replace them - surely - Maybe it is the scouting network ?

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Surco72 added 21:11 - Feb 13 All todays game taught me is that Bart is a better keeper , when Berra is off his game we are poorer at the back , we are set up defensively most weeks but cannot defend set pieces , that Fraser has been our only creative player all season and we are lost without him , that this squad is very limited and needed strengthening and that Bristol like QPR are not a good side but played us off the park . But I am not paid highly and dont see the lads on the training park every day so don't know anything !!

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derby123 added 21:11 - Feb 13 Pissed off as much as everyone else. But changing manager in my opinion isn't the answer. As I stated in a previous post investment was needed in January. Yes we were told funds were avaliable, but I can't imagine these funds were substantial enough to attract the quality of player to take us further a moncur, mcgeady, knockaert etc. My own feeling is that we have reached a crossroads with this squad and investment is the only answer. I don't think anyone could get much more out of this squad at present and feel ripping it up and starting again serves no purpose for me. For one I can't see a manager out there working for a faceless owner with little funds to offer especially not one's avaliable like Pearson or rodgers etc. I agree that at present mick's not helping himself at present with something's. But I feel he had been badly let down by Evans and Milne.

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StowTractorBoy added 21:18 - Feb 13 WayWay I accept Leicester City are punching above their weight but they are the exception to the rule and good on them.
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warktheline added 21:41 - Feb 13 gFH summed the club up perfectly 'going nowhere fast '. There's a multitude of reasons for this, but one example I would like to pluck out is this manager has a second to none CV in Championship, and in my opinion has taken the club as far as IT can go presently...it would appear 'competitive championship team' has become the club's highest ambition!
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BrettenhamBlue added 21:59 - Feb 13 Jas0999 and Keaneish have kind of said everything I was going to say. Positives Bart pulled off some superb saves and his save from Korey Smith in particular in the first half was top draw. His saves from Agard and Baker were even better. Foley had a much better debut than the likes of Coke (joke) and Digby. Pittman looked sharp and probably needed to start the game. Pringle is certainly no Fraser but he had a reasonable debut game. Sears made some good runs. Negatives Team balance was shocking. We didn't look like a team at all. Berra not at his best. Knudsen and Chambers guilty of giving away corners or alternatively not stopping crosses (we were bombarded with crosses). Midfield, which kept changing shape; shocking. Bristol City tore us apart in the centre. Team looked devoid of ideas and in the closing stages City could have gone for it and scored another one if they wanted, but they settled for the 2-1. Toure is no threat from the subs bench. Why do we keep bringing him on for the last few minutes of matches when he offers zero threat? And why was MM unhappy with the result? If it wasn't for heroics from Bart we could have been 4/5 down by the end... We have done nowhere near enough to sort out our team. IMHO we are four or five players away from a good Championship side. The biggest hope we have now this season is that Norwich get relegated and we can have the East Anglian Derby next season. Frees and loans can only take us so far.

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