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Bristol City were a shadow of their usual selves at Elland Road last night, suffering a humbling 4-0 defeat to Leeds United, and Liam Manning had plenty to say about the loss.
Leeds United went into the game knowing they needed to pick up a win to keep up their pursuit of the Championship title, and they delivered emphatically.
Goals from Ao Tanaka, Willy Gnonto, and a brace from super-sub Largie Ramazani late on sealed all three points and proved that Leeds are worthy of their champions-elect status.
However, for Bristol City, it was a really poor performance all round, with bad defending and a lack of a cutting edge up front hurting the Robins.
What Liam Manning said about Leeds United after 4-0 defeat
Discussing the game with the club’s social media after the final whistle, Liam Manning did not hold back in condemning what he saw from his Bristol City players, but was also magnanimous in defeat and offered praise for Leeds United.
He said: “I think they’re the best team we’ve played all season and deserved winners tonight, they deserve the promotion. But there is that bad taste in the mouth for me where there’s a bit of a softness to the goals that we conceded.
“Disappointed with that, but you have to give Leeds a huge amount of credit. They’re a top team… I mentioned before about trying to play the game and focusing on that and not the occasion but it’s tough.”
“The lads have done an incredible job this year of being hard to beat and making it difficult for opponents to score, and we didn’t do that here.”
Reflecting on how the players have reacted to the result and what it means moving forward, Manning insisted everyone knows it was a poor showing, but that they cannot afford to let it get in the way of the end goal.
He added: “In the dressing room the lads have said tonight wasn’t good enough, but you also have to wake up and focus on the weekend. At the start of the season if you’d said it would be in our hands to get into the play-offs on the final day, we’d have snapped your hands off, so we need to move on quickly.”
He’s not wrong about the defensive issues, either. Bristol City were exposed, with their zonal marking allowing Leeds to score easy goals, and that’s something they have to fix before the play-offs, if they make it.
Bristol City will finish in the play-offs, and they can go all the way
Bristol City have been mightily impressive all season, grinding out results and working incredibly hard to put themselves in the position they’re in.
Even after defeat to Leeds, Bristol City can still clinch a play-off place with a win on the final day against Preston North End. They’ll be hot favourites to do just that, too, given the Robins’ home record and Preston’s poor form.
If and when they make it to the Championship play-offs, you have to fancy Bristol City to spring a surprise and go all the way. They’re a strong, resolute team who know how to win football matches by stifling opponents and that’s perfectly-suited for knockout football.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  LeedsLeeds | 45 | 28 | 13 | 4 | 93 | 29 | 64 | 97 |
| 2 |  BurnleyBurnley | 45 | 27 | 16 | 2 | 66 | 15 | 51 | 97 |
| 3 |  Sheff UtdSheffield Utd | 45 | 28 | 7 | 10 | 62 | 35 | 27 | 89 |
| 4 |  SunderlandSunderland | 45 | 21 | 13 | 11 | 58 | 43 | 15 | 76 |
| 5 |  Bristol CityBristol City | 45 | 17 | 16 | 12 | 57 | 53 | 4 | 67 |
| 6 |  CoventryCoventry | 45 | 19 | 9 | 17 | 62 | 58 | 4 | 66 |
| 7 |  MillwallMillwall | 45 | 18 | 12 | 15 | 46 | 46 | 0 | 66 |
| 8 |  BlackburnBlackburn | 45 | 19 | 8 | 18 | 52 | 47 | 5 | 65 |
Whoever has to travel to Ashton Gate in the semi-finals will find it nigh on impossible to get a result, and then Bristol City just need to get something away from home.
You look at Sunderland, who are in terrible form and look absolutely lost, and know that they will not be a threat. Sheffield United, meanwhile, are the strongest team in the top six, but have stuttered of late. And, whoever ends up finishing sixth will be guilty of massive inconsistency given the battle for that place, and Bristol City will surely be able to take advantage of those weaknesses.
It wouldn’t be the most glamorous of play-off wins. Bristol City are certainly the underdogs here, but they’ve got all the ingredients needed to secure promotion.