Bristol City boss Johnson can't see where a win will come from
Play-off finalists six months ago, the Robins are struggling to rediscover the consistency which saw them emerge as surprise contenders for promotion last season.
Victorious in only one of their last eight outings, City’s players are suffering a crisis of confidence which is threatening to undermine their play-off ambitions.
Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Preston in front of the Sky TV cameras saw City drop to 14th in the Coca-Cola Championship table, and manager Johnson made no attempt to hide his growing concern.
He admitted: “It’s nothing that a win or two wouldn’t put right, but I can’t see where those wins are going to come from at the moment.
“I can’t see them around the corner and we’re going to have to work very hard to get them.
“There’s a lack of confidence that means the lads aren’t doing the things that win you matches.
“All I can do is keep working with them and hope our luck and our confidence changes.
“Too many of our players are missing their form and that’s a worry.”
Defeat at Deepdale means City are now five points adrift of the play-off places and under pressure to register only their third home win of the season when Swansea visit Ashton Gate on Saturday.
That game is followed by difficult assignments at Ipswich Town and Sheffield Wednesday, and City could find themselves rooted at the wrong end of the table unless performances and results improve soon.
Having challenged his players to break into the top six by Christmas, Johnson conceded: “It doesn’t look as though that’s going to happen now.
“But I certainly won’t be giving up and the players have to hang on in there and keep going.
“I can’t make any changes in the next five weeks and I have to go with this group of lads. This is where managers and coaches earn their money.”
City were again made to pay for missed chances at the weekend as Preston grabbed victory courtesy of goals either side of half-time from Steve Elliott and Ross Wallace.
Offering an honest assessment of his team’s failings, Johnson said: “We’re missing a little bit of luck and a little bit of quality at the moment. I think the two go together. If you go a goal up, then players are prepared to do the flair things, go past people and take a few more chances.
“But when things aren’t going for you, you tend to just sit in and wait for things to happen. That’s what’s happening to us at the moment. We’re not making things happen.
He added: “Once again, we’ve created two or three decent chances and not taken them. We did the same against Watford and, in the Championship, teams are good enough to put you under pressure and make you pay.
“We’re not creating easy chances and, when we do create anything, our finishing is a bit powder puff. We have to work harder to get those easy goals.
“For me, that’s the most disappointing thing. The boys need to do that bit extra all over the park. They have to run harder, pin defenders when they have the chance and hit the back of the net when they shoot.
“At the moment, that game seems to have deserted us and I thought Preston’s defenders coped with our forwards better than our defenders coped with their forwards.”
To add to the problems currently facing the manager, strikers Stern John and Dele Adebola are both under treatment for injuries.
John missed Saturday’s trip to Preston altogether after damaging his ankle in last Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Watford, while Adebola limped off five minutes into the second half after suffering a dead leg.
“They’re both struggling at the moment and we’ll have to wait and see if they are going to be OK for the Swansea game,” warned Johnson.
Comment on this story