City transfer stance after 'great night's work' in Newcastle win

The Robins secured their second win of pre-season and their first under the management of Skubala at Ashton Gate as goals from Sam Greenwood, Lorent Tolaj and Max Bird - alongside a Sven Botman own-goal - saw them beat the Magpies 4-1.

Four of City's seven summer signings - Sam Tickle, Lisav Eissat, Greenwood and Tolaj - started against Eddie Howe's side. Fellow new arrivals Jed Wallace and Gibson Yah appeared off the bench, while Brad Collins was stationed between the posts at Forest Green Rovers.

Although it has already been a summer of change, Skubala and those above him in BS3 are keen to further strengthen between now and September 1. Having hit the ground running in the market, though, it is now about finalising the "jigsaw puzzle."

"Look, we still want to add," the Robins manager told Bristol Live. "We've gone really strong in the first spurt, and then you can see tonight the cohesion as [we're] trying to work out who best plays with who and what we need.

"It's like a jigsaw puzzle that we're trying to put together, but we still want to add to the group. We still think we can add to them and support them, so we're still working hard behind the scenes with James and the recruitment staff.

"I think we know what we need to do, but we're not in a rush to do that now. We want to make sure that who - if we do bring some more in - it will be to add and make us even stronger.

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"We've been really precise, and the recruitment has been excellent," Skubala added. "You saw some of them for the first time tonight, but now it's about - in the sequence of what we want to do - get them right, the next ones."

The Robins' performance against Newcastle on Wednesday evening was their best of this summer's pre-season and Skubala's tenure to date.

Having been on top for much of the opening exchanges, Greenwood fired the Reds into the lead after 26 minutes. His right-footed free-kick found the back of the net via the underside of the crossbar, leaving Ewen Jaouen with no chance of saving.

Within a matter of moments, that advantage had been doubled when Tolaj shrugged Botman off the ball before slotting into the bottom corner. Then, early in the second half, the Swiss forward turned provider to allow Jason Knight to pick out Bird, who put the result beyond doubt.

A late Harvey Barnes strike threatened to take the shine off an otherwise perfect evening, but Botman ensured City would end the night with their three-goal lead intact when he turned Sam Bell's cross into his own net.

Asked for his assessment of his side's display, Skubala replied, "I really liked us, especially in transition. I think we still have some stuff to work on, but I saw some really good parts of that tonight that were exceptional, and I saw some parts that we can still improve on.

"For me, it's like any other pre-season game. Of course, its an amazing stadium, amazing fans that have come to watch some good goals, a really good outfit - show it shows what we can do against top, top teams - but like all other pre-season games, there's still stuff that we need to improve on.

"I thought the intensity of the team," he added on the topic of aspects that pleased him. "The way we played fast and forward, the way we got off the back of them, the way we looked a threat whenever we moved it through the structure and the patterns we wanted.

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"I thought the transition moments were exciting; we looked like we could score in transition. I think there's stuff to work on when we're a little bit lower and being a little bit more solid. In saying that, the centre-halves put their bodies on the lines tonight, blocked shots and blocked goals.

"There's still always things we can improve on, and doing so against a top opposition like that shows our weaknesses. All in all, it has been a great night's work."

The Reds now face the prospect of a double-header this coming weekend as they travel to both Plymouth Argyle and Exeter City on Saturday afternoon.

After the two-legged visit to the South West, attention turns to the first game of the competitive season, next Thursday's Carabao Cup clash with Walsall.