Second half goals from Glen Johnson and Hermann Hreidarsson kept City in ninth place, and the Manager accepted that the overall display was not up to scratch
“Today’s performance was not anywhere near the level we needed to be,” he said. “You have got to roll your sleeves up when you come to places like this to battle for what you , and on occasions we were lacking in that respect.
“You have got to be strong and stand up to the challenge, but we allowed them to take the initiative. You will concede goals as a result of that, and this is the hardest league in the world. At times we forget that, certainly away from home.
“Other teams will not allow you to play, not allow your technically gifted players to have an influence on the game. You have to find another way, get a performance from within and take something from every performance. Today was a performance where some players did not perform to their capabilities, and that is a frustration for everybody.
This was a setback, but we have to pick ourselves up and make sure we are in better shape for our upcoming games.
Mark Hughes
City were forced into a change when Micah Richards dropped out with an injury, this allowing Shaleum Logan to start his first Barclays Premier League game.
Hughes adds, “Micah went over on his ankle on Friday, had it treated and we did not expect it to be a problem. But he woke up with a problem this morning, failed a fitness test and that put us on the back foot. But that said, Shaleum came in and did very well, he was brave and his performance was a bright point of the game.”
