Aiming to bounce back from a bad day at the office

In the world of many Bristol City fans (well, certainly mine!) everything was in place in the build-up to Sunday's game against Oxford United for what we knew would end up being an afternoon of disappointment.

It was a lovely sunny day, a bumper crowd for a match designated as the club's Family Day, opponents without a win in their opening five games, a chance to move to second place in the table and, by winning, make it the best start to a season at this level for 51 years.

We weren't disappointed in our expectation of disappointment as City stumbled to defeat in a very lacklustre performance, only brightened by a potential goal of the season contender from Anis Mehmeti.

In fairness to Gary Rowett's Oxford, they had earned two creditable draws in their previous two games against Coventry and Leicester and, on this showing, they do not look to be contenders for involvement in a relegation scrap as the season moves forward.

City coach Gerhard Struber is still enjoying his honeymoon period in the fans' eyes although some were certainly questioning his substitution decisions through all phases of the game.

The loss after 15 minutes of left-sided defender Rob Atkinson many thought should signal the introduction of loan signing Neto Borges as a natural fit for that side of the pitch. Instead he elected to push right-footed Zak Vyner across to join the similarly footed McCrorie on the left flank and bring on the defensively oriented George Tanner.

With Mark Sykes having a very poor first half many thought he should have come off at half-time to allow McCrorie to move to his natural position with Yu Hirakawa coming on in a role he is familiar with.

Instead we had to wait until the 71st minute for a double substitution and when Fally Mayulu and Sinclair Armstrong came on with five minutes remaining, City's team shape was all over the place.

One thing that is baffling City fans right now is an apparent reluctance to take off his talisman Jason Knight, even when he is having an indifferent game, as was the case on Sunday.

Adam Randell's number is always the one that comes up and so far this season he is being more Jason Knight than Jason Knight. Give the energetic Irishman a rest for goodness' sake.

Yes, Sunday was a bad day at the office but City have it in them to bounce back with a result at Deepdale at the weekend, their first game against a team in the top half of the table.

You can hear more from David Pottier on the Forever Bristol City podcast.