Johnson offers no excuses as mistakes lead to Bristol City defeat

Gary Johnson was in no mood to offer excuses after watching his stuttering Bristol City team slip up once more at home.

If City were victims of rank bad luck when failing to turn goalless draws into wins in recent matches against Swansea and Sheffield Wednesday, they could not say the same as Burnley came from behind to add to the gloom hanging over Ashton Gate.

Having deservedly taken the lead from the penalty spot early in the second half, the Robins earned themselves the ideal platform from which to register a first success in eight Coca-Cola Championship outings.

But defensive lapses handed the high-riding Clarets a way back into the game and goals from Martin Paterson and substitute Steven Thompson turned a hitherto even contest on its head.

Manager Johnson could easily have blamed the suspensions, injuries and illness which deprived him of several players. Equally, he could have talked up the ill-fortune currently dogging his side.

Instead, he highlighted the costly individual errors which gifted Burnley a victory that keeps them very much in contention for the play-offs.

"I'm not going to make excuses or talk about missing players. There are no excuses from me," declared Johnson, whose team have now won only once in 12 games and are in urgent need of a restorative victory when the Christmas holiday programme commences against Watford at Vicarage Road on Boxing Day.

"It wasn't about luck – it was about what went on in both penalty areas.

"We stopped them getting at our goal, defended well for an hour or so and deserved to be in front. But then we switched off, lost concentration and gave away two soft goals.

"When we concede one, we seem to be conceding two at the moment and it's becoming a bit of a trait. Burnley had some clever play in the penalty area, but the goals were down to poor defending."

City maintained the lead given them by Maynard's fifth goal of the season for just five minutes. When Chris Eagles swung over a free-kick from the right, Clarke Carlisle was permitted time and space in which to nod the ball back across goal for the unattended Paterson to head his 13th goal of an increasingly productive season.

"We didn't pick up from the free kick and allowed them two free headers," complained Johnson. "You simply can't afford to do that in the Championship, because teams are going to punish you.

"Individuals need to do better and those concerned know they have to improve."

City proved equally generous when Eagles embarked upon a mazy run 12 minutes from time and fed Paterson, whose drag back was rammed into the net by Thompson from close range.

"We sometimes allow people to travel too far with the ball when we should be getting in a challenge. It doesn't happen every week, but it happened today and that's why we lost the game," added Johnson

Already a cause for concern, City's home form is now threatening to undermine a season which commenced amid high expectations. Victorious only twice in 12 games at Ashton Gate this term, the Robins have already passed up 23 points at home.

Johnson conceded: "We need to get a couple of wins on the bounce and we have to do it quickly. If we don't, then things will get more difficult later in the season.

"There are still teams below us who are also struggling to win games, but we cannot rely on that continuing indefinitely. We have to work very hard in search of that elusive win."

Neither side appeared capable of forcing the issue in a first half which failed to produce a single meaningful on-target effort.

But the game exploded into life soon after the restart, Michael McIndoe hanging up a cross towards the far post and Stern John going to ground under duress from Carlisle to earn a penalty.

Having missed twice from the spot this season, McIndoe was relieved of penalty-taking duties and Maynard instead took responsibility. Guilty of a glaring miss at Sheffield Wednesday last week, the youngster showed no sign of nerves to confidently beat Brian Jensen from 12 yards.

"I never thought about it – all I was concentrating on was the need to put the ball in the back of the net," revealed Maynard. "That was the first penalty I've taken in competitive football and it was a case of mind over matter. As a striker, all you want is an opportunity to score, so nerves don't come into it.

"I thought when the penalty went in that we would go on to win the game, but we paid for a couple of silly mistakes."

He added: "We're going through a difficult period at the moment and morale isn't as good as it could be. But the lads will stay positive, work hard on the training ground to put things right and then give it another go at Watford on Boxing Day."