Bristol City player ratings as first-half errors undo Reds against Birmingham

Stationed at right-back, Ross McCrorie had a quiet-ish afternoon at St Andrew’s. The Scotsman looked to get forward where possible in the opening period, but spent much more of his side on the outside of Sam Bell, rather than inside the winger. Improved as the contest wore on and had a big chance to share the points when he met Tomi Horvat’s cross late on, but couldn’t hit the target or find Emil Riis.

While not perfect, Noah Eile went about his business well enough against Birmingham City. The Swede could do little about either goal - he was, however, perhaps blocked off too easily for the opener - and tried to build out from the back. Up against August Priske, it was perhaps shown that he still has some work to do to get used to the physicality of England’s second tier, as the Dane was a handful.

Without the benefit of a replay, it did seem as though Phil Neumann may have been Neto Borges’ man for Birmingham City’s opener. While the defender’s finish was superb, it was made an awful lot easier by the space afforded to him by Bristol City’s Middlesbrough loanee, who seemed to be caught out. The Brazilian could do little about Blues’ second and looked more comfortable at left-back after the break. With Rob Dickie fit again, that may be where he remains for the final day.

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Although it was the way in which Bristol City dealt with Demari Gray’s free-kick that allowed Phil Neumann to open the scoring, Cam Pring was the man to concede the foul on the left wing when he brought Carlos Vicente to ground. Outside of that moment, the 28-year-old’s impact on proceedings was limited as he didn’t have too much to deal with defensively and was unable to leave his mark going forward. Hopefully, his withdrawal was a case of rotation, rather than injury.

Having looked after the ball well for much of the first half, Sam Morsy will no doubt be frustrated with his role in Birmingham City’s second goal. Although Radek Vitek’s pass put him under some pressure, it was his ball aimed for Noah Eile that set Jhon Solis on his way, and the Blues man finished with ease. Such an error proved costly in the end, even if he otherwise went about his business reasonably well to keep the Reds ticking, from the base of midfield.

In midweek, Jason Knight looked at his absolute best and, perhaps as a result of that standard that had been set, he seemed slightly off-colour against Chris Davies’ side. Although there were no huge errors that stood out or caught the eye, he just didn’t seem to be at his usual level. Hopefully, he can finish the campaign on a high against Stoke City before getting a well-deserved rest over the summer.

After his brace at St Mary’s on Tuesday evening, Sam Bell was unable to have quite the same impact at St Andrew’s on Saturday afternoon. The Bristol City academy graduate had a couple of encouraging runs and touches, but wasn’t particularly involved in much of what the Reds did going forward. He worked hard off the ball to help those around him, before being withdrawn shortly after the hour mark.

In what was a challenging first half for Bristol City, Tomi Horvat was probably the Robins’ bright spark. The Slovenian international, wherever possible, looked to drive forward in possession and threaded a couple of smart passes behind the Birmingham defence. Yes, his own end product could have been better, but he looked the most likely to make something happen. That was certainly true when he drew a foul from Jay Stansfield inside the penalty area before slotting home from the spot for his first City goal.

Although he didn’t see an awful lot of the ball in the opening 45 minutes at St Andrew’s, Scott Twine came as close as anyone else in Bristol City colours to a first-half goal when he forced a smart save out of James Beadle early on. It felt like the attacking midfielder’s influence on the game faded as the contest wore on, however. He worked hard off the ball and tested the Blues’ backline with one or two set-pieces, but couldn’t carve out that bit of quality.

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He certainly wasn’t the only one in Bristol City colours, but Delano Burgzorg was unable to match the performance level he set on Tuesday night against Birmingham City this weekend. While the Middlesbrough loanee held the ball up well to bring others into the game on occasion, he didn’t do it anywhere near often enough. In the final third, his impact was limited before he was replaced by Sinclair Armstrong.

His introduction appeared to sure things up at the back slightly. It was good to see him build up his minutes.

Worked hard to spark some life into Bristol City’s second-half performance.

The Dane had, outside of Tomi Horvat’s penalty, the best chance to score when he was found by the Slovenian moments after coming on. Unfortunately, he couldn’t turn home.

While the Irishman was caught offside once or twice, he worked hard at the top end of the pitch.