Sheffield United's key strength in Bristol City win laid bare as rival boss delivers honest verdict
Bristol City manager Michael Skubala admitted his side were “bullied” by Sheffield United after Oliver Arblaster’s early volley secured a 1-0 win and capped a positive week for Chris Wilder’s team.
Michael Skubala, the Bristol City manager, admitted his side were “bullied” by Sheffield United this afternoon as the Blades signed off a difficult week with six points from three positive performances. The Blades bounced back from their midweek disappointment at Portsmouth to beat the Robins 1-0.
United defended their lead manfully after getting it thanks to Oliver Arblaster’s early volley, with Michael Cooper barely called into action after an early save to deny Yu Hirakawa one-on-one.
Arblaster’s volley moments later gave United a big three points and Skubala admitted his side couldn’t match the Blades’ physicality. “It was a completely different feel than Tuesday,” he admitted.
“And that’s probably why you have to win those games on Tuesday. That was a frustrating night because we had all the chances. But today I thought we started too slow.
“We lost too many duels, weren't aggressive enough, they got on top of us and our clearances weren't big enough in a typical Championship game.
“We didn't do well enough at the start of the game, so yeah, a different disappointment if you like compared to Tuesday.”
Hirakawa’s chance came after a mistake from Japhet Tanganga but Cooper blocked with his body and it became even more pivotal soon after when Arblaster netted.
“That's probably the biggest chance of the game really and when you go through one-on-one, you have to score,” Skubala added. “
“But they were too physical for us, like I say, we lost too many duels. The first contacts, the second contacts, I think we got... not ran over. We run hard, we work hard, the lads work really hard.
“But we just couldn't cope with their physicality today. And that's probably why I made the changes at half-time, to try and get us up the pitch a little bit.
“I think you have to accept that sometimes some players are bigger and stronger than other players. We have to keep working on that, it takes time. But we can play and we can be more aggressive in our actions.
“Look, the players are disappointed. They know we've got to improve. We didn't create enough today. I can't say we created enough to hurt them.
But I do think we got bullied a little bit. So we have to be better in that and we have to be more aggressive. No-one wants to go through this period where we've lost too many games.
“We started the season well. We're having a dip, for sure, and we've got to find a way out of it and stick together in that moment.”