Having headed into Christmas with a poor defeat away to West Brom at The Hawthorns, Bristol City have come out of the festive period unbeaten in for games and now sit just outside the play-off places.

Luke McNally's third goal of the season was enough for the Robins to secure a first win of 2025 against Derby County last weekend. The former Burnley defender turned home Scott Twine's free-kick to ensure Liam Manning's side claimed all three points against the Rams.

Paul Warne's side did have chances to level things up but failed to truly test Max O'Leary in the Reds' net as the City backline kept them at arm's length for much of the contest.

Saturday's win sees the Robins climb up to eighth in the Championship. Although they remain three points outside the play-off positions, their recent run of good form has breathed new life into their push for the top six.

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Here is a full transcript of every word Manning said to the written press after the final whistle at Ashton Gate...

Three home wins in a row, no goals conceded, and a very comprehensive defensive performance?

Yeah, it was very solid from that perspective. I think they make it extremely difficult, especially at the back end of such a heavy period. I think the lads are flat out on their feet, Rob Dickie was on empty before we started, so it spoke volumes today, I think, in terms of the response to Plymouth, but also the digging in, the resilience, the grit, the desire to head things and clear things. For me, it was really pleasing from that perspective.

Luke McNally would’ve probably been kicking himself for giving the free kick away at Plymouth, but it was a great response from him to score the winner today,

Yeah, along with many others, he was excellent today. A big part of his game is aggression and how front-footed he is with a desire to defend. I thought it was a soft free kick at Plymouth, but today I thought he was excellent. The quality of the delivery was excellent too, as well as the finish.

Unlike at Plymouth, to see the game out as comfortably as you did today must have given you great satisfaction.

Yeah, they obviously had the free kick on the halfway line that they loaded up. Naturally, I felt the same as everybody. I get nervous, anxious on the sideline, hence me losing my voice a little bit because I'm screaming like mad trying to affect it. We’ve got a top group of lads here, I think that's the biggest bit. You see that today in terms of sticking together and responding like we did. Again I thought the game management at the end, in the corner, not sending people up and killing some time, just shows a level of maturity which I think the group will only continue to get better at.

We’ve spoken before about learning to win games and that's the challenge. We did it against Luton here, we did it obviously again today. It's about finding a way to win, which we did.

Eighth in the league, three points away from the playoff places. You’ve said you’d like the fans to be optimistic, they certainly will be at the moment.

Yeah definitely, you want the fans and everybody to dream big, but it's also then understanding that would be a byproduct of turning up and giving your all every game. I think that’s it, you’ve got to turn up, be proactive and give everything, whether it be the fans or the lads out there. It’s about turning up and from the second the whistle starts giving absolutely everything. Across the season, there haven't been too many games where we haven't done that.

Obviously, we've now got an opportunity to rest and recover which I think is really important. It’s been such a full-on period and we'll need that and then obviously we get a good game next week.

Is there a feeling in the dressing room that you are genuine play-off contenders?

Yeah, I hope so.

Do you talk about it?

No, it's so far away. That'll be an outcome of us doing all the bits we need to do day to day. People can talk about it, people can look at it, but if you don't win matches it won't happen. So for me, the energy goes into seeing where we're at and getting ready for Wolves next week. Then the week after that we get ready for Coventry.

You see it, we're on a good run at the minute but other teams that were on a good run previously might be having a tough run, and that's Championship football. Everybody will have ups and downs, it’s about how you try and find a level of consistency with how you cope with the highs and the lows, to believe in the work you do, and turn up and keep grinding because it's such a relentless season.

What are your expectations for the transfer window?

Probably quite quiet. I would love to add, but I think it's probably more a case of moving a few on before we can do anything. You would have seen that Rob Atkinson’s gone out, which I think will be good for him to go and play. He's missed such a long period of football. To get the opportunity to go and build up minutes and get some confidence back in his body by playing which he wouldn't have done sat on the bench here with us.

I think that will be good for him. But yeah, I probably anticipate it being relatively quiet. Probably not too many, no.

Were there any reservations about sending Rob out? Because looking at the bench today, it looked light on defensive bodies, but with players coming back was that a risk you could afford to take?

We've got George [Tanner] back and we've also got people that can play in numerous positions. We've got all three centre-backs on the pitch today, we can go to a back four if need be, Ross [McCrorie] can play left or right, George can play centre-half of full-back, Haydon [Roberts] can play centre-half as well as full-back or wing-back.

We've got [Kal] Naismith back next week and Josh Campbell-Slowey is one we're quite excited by. He's on his way back in that little period as well so for me, we've got the options. I need to find out about Rob, him training with us and sitting here and waiting for the opportunity. For me, he needs to go and play 20 games and find out about his body and get some confidence which I think is important.

It’s quite a bizarre situation that you’ve been at the club so long, and he’s never been able to play for you. That doesn’t happen often, does it?

No, obviously he wasn't available last season due to injury and then this season he did most of pre-season and picked up another slight one which kept him out for a period. Ultimately, I think when you look at it, the lads that are ahead of him have done extremely well. That's the nature of football. I spoke to him yesterday, and I think it's a good opportunity for him.

How is Cam Pring after Plymouth?

He’s going to be weeks, unfortunately I don’t think it’s going to be a short-term one. We need to assess him and see where he is in a few days. I’ll speak with Paul in the next couple of days when it is all settled down, and we’ll have a look at it then.

You mentioned Scott Twine’s delivery, it feels like the ground goes silent whenever he steps over a free kick. That quality makes such a difference to have from dead-ball situations.

Yeah. I know what Twiney can do as I worked with him previously at MK Dons, and he’s got the potential to change a game like that. He did it here against Luton, he’s done it in other games, and I think that’s the biggest bit, you have to carry a threat from set pieces. I’m delighted. We know Luke's got that quality as well, and it was a moment of real quality.

Twine got really stuck in at the other end too, there was that moment where he made a tackle inside his own box. It feels like every player is buying into going the extra mile to see out games, which has previously been a criticism.

Look, we haven't not won games because of not having grit or being all in on it. For me, we're a young group, we're learning. You see it so often in football. We've got a terrific group of lads, they are a great group to work with, and they give absolutely everything. You’ve seen that today. I think for everybody it's such a relentless period that naturally today everyone's flat out before you even start the game, everybody's running on empty. So what you then need is that culture, you need people to step up, and give everything. The lads definitely did that today.

Was it a bit frustrating at all when Yu broke at the end? You must’ve been tearing your hair out because that looked like it might have put it to bed.

I haven’t got a lot of that. There were a few moments like that, I thought it was a really tough game. There were a few moments in transition especially where we nicked it and lacked a bit of quality in transition to create. We can sit here and focus on what went well and what didn't go well, but I think the biggest bit is we've responded to conceding late at Plymouth and built on another strong home performance.

Last time we spoke with a week between games you were irritated there wasn’t one sooner to bounce from a good performance into another game. This time I’m guessing you’re looking forward to the break?

Yeah, we need the rest. Credit to staff, players everybody. We're privileged to do what we do but a lot of people do make sacrifices. They were in working Christmas Day so with the hours they put in, a massive thank you from me to all staff and players for what they've done in the last two weeks because it is relentless. We'll have a couple of days rest and then get ready for Wolves.

Can I ask you about Nahki Wells’ contract situation? It seems it is a similar situation to Mo Salah.

I’ll take that. A Nahki and Mo Salah comparison. He’s going to be delighted when he hears that.

He's an older statesman, he's playing well, he's out of contract. There are more and more rumours about him potentially going this month.

Those rumours are news to me. In my opinion, he’s not [going anywhere]. There are so many rumours everywhere right? Nahki’s top, I think he loves being here, and I think the level of his game is in a really good spot. We love him, and those talks will happen as and when.

Fally Mayulu looks like he is struggling out there, can you give us a bit of insight into your plan to help him hit the ground running?

It just takes time, I think he's human and people forget that. 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.

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