EFL make official decision ahead of Bristol City vs Stoke City in the Championship
EFL make official decision ahead of Bristol City vs Stoke City in the Championship
Bristol City are back in Championship action on Wednesday evening as the fixtures start to come thick and fast
Bristol City were beaten 1-0 at home by Swansea City last time out. Josh Tymon scored the only goal of the game and the hosts couldn’t find an equaliser.
Liam Manning’s side are sat in 9th place in the Championship table after 31 games and have 15 fixtures left to play. They are three points off the play-offs.
It ended up being a quiet January transfer window for the Robins and they didn’t make a signing. They decided to stick with what they have until the summer.
EFL make official decision ahead of Bristol City vs Stoke City
Bristol City are back in action on Wednesday night against Stoke City. They will be eager to bounce back from their defeat to Swansea.
The EFL have confirmed that James Bell will be the referee for the Robins’ upcoming match. Ian Cooper and Conor Brown are on assistant referee duties, whilst Scott Tallis will be the fourth official. There is of course no VAR in the Football League. Bell has made 22 appearances so far this season, 15 of which have come in the second tier. He has also worked in League Two, the Carabao Cup and FA Cup over recent times.
The Englishman hasn’t refereed Bristol City yet in the league in this campaign. He was the man in the middle for Stoke’s 2-1 loss at home to West Brom back in August. The Potters drew 3-3 at home to Cardiff City in their last outing in the FA Cup. They were beaten by the Bluebirds on penalties. Mark Robins was chosen as their manager earlier this winter following Narcis Pelach’s sacking and the former Coventry City will be eager to keep the Staffordshire outfit up.
What now for Bristol City?
Bristol City will want to find some more consistency over the coming weeks and months. It was a surprise to see that they didn’t bring in any reinforcements this winter, especially with their strong league position.
Speaking after their defeat to Swansea, Manning said: “Yeah, frustrating, right? I’m sure everybody’s feeling the same right now. I think, in terms of the performance level, there are so many positives from it. We should be ahead at halftime, but the keeper makes two terrific saves.
“I thought Rob [Dickie] had a really good header as well that he put over. So I thought we had some really good moments, there were really a lot of positives, the press was good, the purpose, the intent was good.
“Second half, a five-minute spell cost us ultimately. I felt we became a little bit passive collectively. The front line were a little bit passive in duels, the back line were a little bit too deep and they built their momentum. Then, you give yourself the challenge of trying to get back into the game. None of it was through a lack of attitude or will or desire or any of the behaviours that are the first thing I look at. Ultimately, we didn’t win today because of quality.”
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