Every word Liam Manning said on Sunderland, Earthy 'impact', Bristol City fan reception and more

Bristol City bounced back from their disappointing defeat to Portsmouth with a combative and workmanlike 1-1 draw with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday evening.

Luke McNally's right-footed effort gave the Robins the lead midway through the second half as the centre-back calmly slotted home from inside the penalty area after a combination of Nahki Wells and Zak Vyner won back possession in the Black Cats' penalty area.

It looked as though the Reds had done enough to secure all three points, but a late left-footed strike from Patrick Roberts ensured that the spoils would be shared in the North East as the Sunderland substitute smashed past Max O'Leary in the 93rd minute.

READ MORE: Bristol City verdict as Reds continue Robin Hood act in Sunderland draw at the Stadium of Light

READ MORE: Liam Manning delighted with Bristol City reaction despite 'disappointing' late Sunderland draw

The draw leaves Liam Manning's side 11th in the Championship table, five points adrift of the play-off places and nine points clear of the relegation zone ahead of this weekend's clash with QPR.

Here is a full transcript of every word Liam Manning said in his post-match press conference following the full-time whistle at the Stadium of Light.

Liam you've said before about there being different types of draws, the manner of that goal must make that feel like a loss.

Obviously, the timing of it is what makes it feel a little bit like that We were looking for a response from the weekend, I was quite honest at the weekend with everybody. We weren't good enough and we were looking for that response tonight.

Of course, it's hugely disappointing and frustrating to concede so late but ultimately the lads gave absolutely everything which like I said, I was quite critical of at the weekend, but tonight they did that and left everything out there. The blocks, people putting their bodies on the line, Rob Dickie on his knees heading things clear in the box. I thought the lads gave absolutely everything so as disappointing as it is, it's not the worst point.

For 93 minutes it was almost the perfect away display. You had to sit in but the team seemed to block everything that came their way.

I thought first half we allowed too much territory and we got too deep for me which is why we made the changes. The change of shape at half-time helped, I thought we were able to press a little bit higher at the start of the second half and obviously went ahead. Then it's a case of whether you can see it out in what is a really difficult place to come so like I say, it's a frustrating one.

As good as it is for Luke to get the goal he was excellent at the back. Not all fans felt another defender was needed this summer but he's shown his worth again today.

He was excellent. I was a little nervy with the finish to be fair, it felt like it took an age to get the shot off but he took it really well. I think it's a really important thing the team needs, we need goals from a variety of sources so for him to chip in is really important.

Then at the other end, I thought him, Rob [Dickie], [Cam] Pring, Zak [Vyner] how they defended I thought was excellent so credit to them.

You had chances to put the game to bed, I think back to the chance Anis Mehmeti had, it must be frustrating that you couldn't quite put the game to bed.

They're the margins I think at the level. It's one of the toughest divisions in the world right and that's the bit, you wouldn't want to call any result in the Championship at any point, I don't think. But they're the key bits. We're all in behaviourally, it's then just have you got the quality to kill the game off and Anis is improving. He's working on it but they are the moments that not just Anis but collectively we need to make sure we put the game to bed.

Sinclair Armstrong started at the top end of the pitch. Did you feel he gave you enough up there and did you get enough out of him?

Sincs worked really hard I thought. He didn't have a huge amount of quality into him or a huge amount of service, but what we asked him to do defensively he did well. He's just a constant threat. I think the centre-backs can never switch off or relax just given his physical qualities. He had a couple of half moments on the counterattack, but he put in a shift and that's the bit, we're in a different place now where we can make changes.

A year ago we couldn't whereas now I look at the bench and the depth we've got, you know Belly and George [Earthy] coming on, the impact I thought they had was excellent. We're in a better spot to manage a really heavy period that we've got coming up.

I asked on Saturday about the similarities with the defeats to Blackburn and Derby, those followed one another so how important is it that you've stopped a big defeat from starting a losing run?

It's important. Runs are important but for us, it's very much about controlling game by game. You can't put too much energy into the future as you can't the past. What we had to do was turn up and do everything we could tonight to respond in the right way to the weekend and I thought we did that.

I think the fans' reception showed that at the end. Such a tough, long journey and such a huge commitment from the fans to travel up here on a Tuesday night so a huge thank you to them and of course, we're slightly frustrated we didn't send them home with three points but I also think they saw the lads give everything.

The home fans around us felt they should have had a penalty in the first half after the incident involving Yu Hirakawa, what was your view on that?

I haven't seen it back, I don't know.

But in the moment you didn't think there was anything in it?

No, nothing.

From up high it felt like second half we were watching a different game in terms of how high up the pitch you got. Can you just talk us through what you tried to change and how you managed to swing the momentum?

We went with a back four first half and I thought we found it difficult to get pressure high up mainly because of the set-up. We went to a back five at half-time which ended up with us releasing a three vs three on our last line instead of four so we could commit that extra body higher and wider.

I felt we just really struggled first half to get pressure and stop progression in wide areas so the extra player in the backline meant we could have less distance to tilt so we could shift across the pitch and engage a little bit higher. I thought the lads did quite a good job of it, we forced quite a few mistakes, regained it higher up the pitch and I thought the change helped.

READ MORE: Bristol City player ratings vs Sunderland: Luke McNally stands out as Reds denied huge away win

READ MORE: Former Bristol City boss Nigel Pearson shares new health update after 'learning to walk again'