Assistant head coach Dean Holden has said he believes Bristol City would’ve taken all three points from last nights clash against Fulham if ‘Lady Luck’ had taken more of a shine to us.
Hosting Slavisa Jokanovic’s high flying side at Ashton Gate for the game, City somewhat reversed their recent form in matches and actually fell behind to a 14th minute Aleksander Mitrovic effort, but ten minutes before the break we staged a comeback of our own and Bobby Reid found the net once again.
With the scores tied at one all as the final whistle in the match went, Holden told the Official Site as he met with the media post game that he felt it was a ‘fantastic performance’ but we just lacked that little bit of luck that he felt would’ve taken us to a deserved three points on the day.
‘I thought we could have nicked it. I don’t think the ball dropped enough which sounds a bit of a cliche but we created a lot of momentum. We sat off them too much in the first 20 minutes, they got the goal and we needed to get more aggressive, get on the front and stop them playing.’
He went on to add.
‘After those 20 minutes we took control of the game, we created momentum with set pieces where the delivery was fantastic. We played with aggression but it just didn’t fall for us on the night. We have taken a point against a good team. Fulham are the inform team in the Championship so we have to back that up with three points away at Cardiff City on Sunday.’
With questions being asked about the character of the side having let successive leads slip in recent matches, Holden went on to say.
‘Our character is unquestionable but it’s good they have shown it when under pressure because a lot of questions have been asked recently. To go a goal down against a good Fulham side is always difficult but the lads rallied, we got back to our style of play and showed that aggression. We showed energy on the pitch and on another night we might have taken all three points. It was a fantastic display and if we had won the game I think the headlines would be ‘Fantastic Home Performance.’ That’s what it was, just without the points.’
Looking forward, Holden also saw no reason to panic given we continue to sit in sixth place despite recent struggles.
‘We’re still in the mix, we’re still sixth at the moment so there’s all to play for. We have the derby at the weekend, a sell-out crowd supporting us so it’s going to be a great afternoon against Cardiff City and a fantastic end of the season to come.’
With penalty shouts for a foul on Aden Flint as well as a handball incident after the break, that was the stroke of ‘luck’ Holden felt went against us as on another day he’d fully expect both shouts to be given.
‘Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t. Flinty’s looked more like a penalty although I haven’t seen them back. It looked as though the Fulham player was all over his shirt but it’s frustrating. The message we always get is that the fourth official is there to give decisions but it’s rare they do that. If he’s not sure then he can’t give a decision and sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t.’
