What Bristol City boss Lee Johnson said about Atdhe Nuhiu and 'direct' Sheffield Wednesday

Bristol City boss Lee Johnson claimed Sheffield Wednesday forward Atdhe Nuhiu got away with repeated fouling in the Owls’ late 1-0 win at Hillsborough yesterday, going as far to say that some of his play was dangerous.
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The claims came in a scathing assessment of the performance of referee Tony Harrington by the Robins boss and went on to talk up the Owls’ promotion credentials after Barry Bannan’s 83rd minute penalty – won by Nuhiu – saw them go third in the league.

The big Kosovan was drafted in for unwell top scorer Steven Fletcher and enjoyed a tough physical battle with City centre-half Tomáš Kalas.

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And asked whether Nuhiu had cause them problems, Johnson said: “I thought it was the referee that gave us the problems, to be honest. I thought there were loads of fouls.

“It depends how you look at it, whether you’ve got blue and white glasses on or red and white glasses on, you’ll come up with a different thought process.

“But there were three or four times when Kalas has won a clean header and he’s been absolutely wiped out or pinned after the event, or he [Nuhiu] even ducked under it which is dangerous because it can mean the defender goes over and almost, like, breaks his neck.”

Asked whether, despite the perceived fouls, Nuhiu was an effective replacement for Fletcher, he said: “He was because they’re direct, they get it into him and build from it going forwards.

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“But at the same time we played the ball out probably better than most teams against Sheffield Wednesday because he was playing.

Sheffield Wednesday forward Atdhe Nuhiu won the penalty that won the Owls three points over Bristol CitySheffield Wednesday forward Atdhe Nuhiu won the penalty that won the Owls three points over Bristol City
Sheffield Wednesday forward Atdhe Nuhiu won the penalty that won the Owls three points over Bristol City

“So it’s tit for tat, he hasn’t got the mobility but he has got the physical frame to cause you problems.

“They’re a good side, they’ve got a good manager. Obviously it will be interesting in the long term with all this EFL stuff.

“That’s not something I want to get involved in because I’m only here for the performance.

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“They tick all the Championship boxes. They’ve got good experience, they’ve got good height, they’ve got a goal scoring history record, they’ve got back up in the squad and a good manager.

“They’ll be very competitive moving forward.”