And breathe. After four games in just 10 days, Bristol City's festive schedule has finally come to an end following their clash with Derby County at Ashton Gate.

Having dropped two points against Plymouth Argyle at Home Park on New Year's Day, the task was simple for Liam Manning's side. Secure three points and get a first win of the year on the board to nip any talk of a wobbly start to 2025 in the bud before it even got going.

Luke McNally gave the Reds the lead with his third goal of the season midway through the first half. The former Burnley defender got his right foot to Scott Twine's free-kick to turn past Jacob Widell Zetterström in the Rams' net and ease the nerves of the fans inside Ashton Gate. The away side had a couple of chances to level things up but weren't able to beat Max O'Leary in the City net as the academy graduate produced some excellent saves to keep Paul Warne's side at arm's length.

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Ultimately, it was the Robins who spurned the best chances to find the net in the second half. Anis Mehmeti, Fally Mayulu and Ross McCrorie could have all extended the home side's lead, had they shown a bit more cutting edge in the final third.

Fortunately, those missed opportunities didn't come back to bite Manning's side who managed the second half excellently to secure the three points that their performance deserved. Was it a classic? No, but the Reds boss wouldn't have cared and neither did the fans inside the stadium.

This was the final outing of a spell of games that could dictate what the Robins achieve this term. While they weren't perfect, they have shown that they're not in this division just to make up the numbers.

With one of the busiest spells of the season now in the rearview mirror, here are the main talking points from Bristol City's 1-0 win over Derby County at Ashton Gate.

Making Ashton Gate a fortress

Saturday was the 13th Championship game of the season at Ashton Gate. It was also the Reds' sixth home league win of the campaign and it means that Manning's side has only lost two Championship matches in BS3 this term.

Only five teams in the division have lost fewer games at home at this stage of the season. Four of those clubs currently sit above City in the table. When you consistently pick up wins on your own patch, you always have a good chance of competing at the top end of the table.

Of course, the Reds would be in an even better position had they managed to convert some of their six draws at Ashton Gate into wins. December's draw with QPR springs to mind, as do the stalemates with Cardiff City and Sheffield Wednesday.

City's next four home league games see them welcome Blackburn Rovers, Swansea City, Stoke City and Middlesbrough to the West Country. None of those matches will be easy and if the Robins can come away from those four fixtures with their impressive record intact, it will provide them with a great platform from which to build.

However, they do need to start picking up more points on the road to complement their work at home. Manning's side has only won three of their 13 games away from Ashton Gate this term, with their last away win coming against Norwich in November.

Learning to win games

There was a moment in the final exchanges in Saturday's win when Yu Hirakawa slipped a ball through to Mehmeti and as the Albanian international shaped to shoot, he instead took the ball down to the corner and waited for the final whistle.

That sort of intelligence and game awareness is crucial when trying to see out games. In two of Bristol City's last two matches, against Derby this weekend and Luton on Boxing Day, they have managed to protect their lead and keep all three points in the West Country.

We made the point after the New Year's Day draw with Plymouth Argyle that the Robins had dropped 13 points from winning positions this term. As frustrating as that is, there is nothing Manning's side can do now to recover those lost points. However, they can learn from those experiences to ensure that it doesn't happen again.

Habits are so important in football and while winning is the best one to have, seeing out leads can be just as important. If City can continue to get over the line on a more regular basis, the entire feeling around the playing squad and Ashton Gate itself will change late on in matches.

Because of Boxing Day's win over the Hatters, the fans and the players will have been less nervous yesterday when the fourth official held up the board to indicate there were an extra three minutes to be played.

This "young group" that Manning refers to is constantly learning. Of course, it's more likely than not that they will drop points again before the season is out, but the signs over the last four matches suggest it's a habit they're beginning to break rather than one that is going to hold them back in the long run.

Fally's still a human

Having been left on the bench in each of the Robins' last two games, Mayulu was given another shot to impress against the Rams as he replaced Nahki Wells in the second half.

Arguably, it was one of the Frenchman's best displays in City colours in recent months. He had a couple of good touches and held the ball up better than he did against West Brom or Luton, but his cameo will likely be remembered for a couple of poor attempts on goal.

The 22-year-old was unable to turn George Tanner's cross goalwards immediately after coming on, scuffed an attempted volley when Jason Knight picked him out and ended up in a heap on the floor as he looked to curve a shot into the bottom corner late on in the game.

Fans will of course be frustrated that their summer signing is struggling to find the net but they also have to remember this was only Mayulu's 15th Championship appearance. As Manning explained after the full-time whistle, Mayulu is a human, not a robot.

"It just takes time, I think he's human and people forget that," said the 39-year-old. "The lads naturally suffer with confidence and anxiety and I think sometimes when you sit up there you dehumanise them. They feel pressure and they want to do well. I don't think any of the lads step on there and don't want to do well.

"He's a young lad, because of physically how he looks you forget the maturity behind that. He's made a big move, it's going to take. Seeing his attributes in training, he is improving. Like I said, Championship football is different to what he's come from and that transition will take time. He's got all the attributes, what you can't do is put a penny on when it will drop. He's getting better in training from the bits I've seen, it's then the transferability and that will take a bit of time."

Was his display complete? No, but it was the closest we have seen him to his early season form. Hopefully, the penny will drop sooner rather than later but it won't be immediate.

They couldn't... could they?

After the defeat to West Brom, I wrote in my verdict that the Robins risked their season being over by the turn of the New Year if they didn't begin to pick up results over the festive period. Since then, Manning's side have gone four games unbeaten, winning three of them and have only conceded twice.

Of course, some will suggest they should be beating the likes of Portsmouth, Luton and Derby who have all had difficult starts to the season. However, City can only beat what is in front of them and these exact sorts of matches have been banana skins in the past.

The 10 points picked up over the last four games have helped the Reds climb to eighth in the Championship and, at the time of writing, they are only two points adrift of sixth-placed West Brom who occupy the final place in the top six. They are in that chasing pack and although Manning isn't focusing on the play-off race at this moment in time, the Robins are well and truly in it.

"It's so far away. That will be an outcome of us doing all the bits we need to do day to day," explained the 39-year-old. "People can talk about it, people can look at it but if you don't win matches it won't happen.

"For me, the energy goes into, let's see where we're at, get ready for Wolves next week and the week after that we get ready for Coventry. We're on a good run at the minute, but other teams that might have been on a good run previously might be having a tough run and that's Championship football.

"Everyone will have ups and downs, it's how do you try and find a level of consistency with how you cope with the highs and the lows, believe in the work you do to turn up and keep grinding because it's such a relentless season."

If City can pick up where they left off once their FA Cup clash with Wolves is out of the way they have a real opportunity to challenge at the top end of the table. The question will be whether or not they're able to maintain this recent form over the next few months.

As Manning says, that race will take care of itself between now and May. For now, fans should instead look forward to next weekend's showdown with Wolves and the potential FA Cup run that could or could not follow.

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