Bristol City 1-0 Derby County: Luke McNally seals win for Robins

Luke McNally's first-half strike proved enough for Bristol City to maintain their recent impressive home form with a 1-0 Sky Bet Championship victory over Derby at Ashton Gate.

The winner came in the 19th minute when Nahki Wells was fouled 30 yards from goal and Scott Twine's chipped free-kick into the penalty area was volleyed home from close range by centre-back McNally.

Derby battled hard without a cutting edge and there were boos from their massed ranks of travelling fans at the final whistle.

For City it was a third successive home win without conceding a goal and Liam Manning's men were deserving of their narrow success.

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City made one change from the draw at Plymouth, with Haydon Roberts replacing the injured Cam Pring, while Derby's team showed three changes from the defeat at Sheffield Wednesday, with Callum Elder, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Liam Thompson brought in. The Rams also had to make a late change on the bench, with Jake Rooney taking over from Joe Ward who was injured in the warm-up.

Derby made a bright start and Robins goalkeeper Max O'Leary had to make the first save, diving full-length to concede a corner after the ball had ricocheted off Mendez-Laing in a crowded box. Marcus Harness headed wide from a Kane Wilson cross after 17 minutes.

It was City who broke the deadlock two minutes later and it was almost 2-0 after 23 minutes when Twine collected an Anis Mehmeti pass inside the box and saw his shot blocked for a corner.

O'Leary tipped over another Harness header and from the resulting corner Curtis Nelson's header was straight at the home keeper. But the Robins continued to threaten and Ross McCrorie's shot from a Roberts cross was blocked.

Twine fired over from a free-kick before an evenly-fought first half came to a close.

Derby made a change at the break with Ben Osborn replacing Kayden Jackson. Both sides were guilty of squandering promising attacking positions in the early stages of the second half.

Bristol City almost doubled their lead on the hour when Fally Mayulu shot wide from a George Tanner cross. Both had just been introduced as substitutes for Nahki Wells and McCrorie respectively.

A Twine shot from distance brought a comfortable save after 73 minutes, but neither goalkeeper was being kept busy on a bitterly cold afternoon. Mayulu should have done better when missing his kick from Jason Knight's 80th-minute cross.

It was Bristol City looking the more threatening as Roberts sent a shot wide from the edge of the box and Mehmeti had a shot blocked, while Derby produced nothing in terms of goal attempts.

The managers

Bristol City's Liam Manning:

"I would love to add, but I think it will be more a case of moving a few on. We have already sent Rob Atkinson out on loan to get confidence back in his body after a long injury lay-off.

"I don't anticipate much in terms of signings. We have players capable of playing in numerous positions, which means we have adequate cover.

"Nobody in the dressing room is talking about the play-offs. We know success will only come if we continue to work hard and focus fully on each game.

"It has been an incredibly busy period, so great credit is due to the lads today for contesting every header and snapping into tackles. We defended really solidly, which was great after conceding an equaliser so late at Plymouth in midweek.

"When Derby loaded up our box for a late free-kick on the halfway line, I felt the same nerves as all our supporters and I've lost my voice a bit through screaming instructions in an effort to affect that situation.

"But we have a great group of lads and the response to the late setback at Plymouth was fantastic. Luke McNally conceded a soft late free-kick there and today he has come up with the winning goal."

Derby's Paul Warne:

"I understand their frustration. It was a disappointing performance.

"I thought both sides looked a bit jaded after an incredibly tough sequence of fixtures over a very short period of time.

"I'm not making excuses, but we have injuries and illness in the camp, which doesn't help at such a hectic time of year. We even had a player drop out of this game during the warm-up.

"It wouldn't be right to say we feel sorry for ourselves, but we just didn't seem able to summon up sufficient energy.

"We didn't work their goalkeeper enough. To win away from home in the Championship you have to get the basics right.

"You have to defend resolutely, out-run the opposition, out-tackle them and take your opportunities. Today we were lacking in all of those."

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