Bristol City 1-1 Ipswich Town: Gerhard Struber’s verdict.

Gerhard Struber, Bristol City’s manager, praised Ipswich Town’s transfer activity following his team’s 1-1 draw with the Blues at Ashton Gate Friday night.

The Robins took the lead on Rob Atkinson’s thunderous header from a corner (18), but Jack Clarke’s penalty (51) tied the score in a game with few clear-cut chances.

“Of course, we would be more happy in the end when we have three points, but at the same time we should not forget which opponent was today in our house,” stated Austria’s manager Struber. “It was amazing to see how we handled such a high-quality opponent today.

“The boys worked hard and carried out the game plan in an excellent manner. How we dealt in the right areas, how we stepped out with our centre-backs or wing-backs, was always difficult to deal with, especially given their various moves in the wide spaces with the switch balls. “I would say Georgey (Tanner), Ross (McCrorie), Neto (Borges), and Rob Atkinson; they deal with the proper issues and make their lives difficult.

Then we enter our realm of changes, and while we should have scored a little higher, the transition times were quite difficult to handle.

“At times, I felt the boys were quite close. This was exactly the match plan for today, so they perceived it correctly and executed it flawlessly.

 

“I’m really happy. We can see the boys’ remarkable teamwork as they left everything on the pitch.

“We play against an opponent with £200million of transfer value, of course this looks a little bit different when we look on our transfer value, but we have also a really good group of players with really good quality.” Ipswich’s Chuba Akpom won a penalty after McCrorie clipped his heels in the box.

Struber expressed no objections. He answered, “No, I believe that was a penalty; there was a touch. It’s harsh, but it’s a punishment. It is inexpensive, but that is the reality of football.

 

“It’s so inexpensive that we slide a tiny amount on him, and of course, he accepts it and flies, but I don’t think this was bad. You can impose a punishment like this, but it is difficult.”