The Blues found themselves two goals down in our first home league game of the campaign before a late rally rescued a valuable point.
Nikita Parris had clawed a goal back from the penalty spot, before skipper Steph Houghton unleashed an unstoppable curling effort into the far corner to level the score in the final minutes of the game.
It has been a difficult week on a personal level for the City and England defender and Cushing hailed her resilience in his post-match interview.
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“Steph is Steph,” he declared. “She’s the England captain and City captain because of her professionalism and commitment, and her desire and hunger to win. You could see that.
“We made a slight change in her position for the second half to get her a bit higher up the pitch and make her more offensive and she contributed to both goals. We’re pleased.”
Reflecting on the game overall, Cushing admitted he was disappointed with the Blues’ display – but has urged his side not to dwell on the disappointment with Wednesday night’s Champions League Round of 32 second leg clash against Atletico Madrid looming.
“I didn’t think we were good enough,” he conceded. “We weren’t ruthless or clinical enough in the moments we had.
“We had Bristol on the back foot for the whole game but we never really punished them enough and if you make basic errors in football and gift goals, then you can’t expect to win matches.
“I don’t really believe in ‘having just one of those days’. I think that if you apply yourself right and you have the right focus and concentration, you’ll be the player that you are.
“We have good players in this team but good players have to impose themselves in every game to show they are good players.
“Although I thought we were okay, we weren’t good enough – but we can’t let it affect our confidence.
“We have to make sure we’re hungry and motivated to get to the next round of the Champions League.
“It’s a difficult game but we’re capable of getting past Atletico Madrid.
“We can be a better team than we were in Madrid, although we were very solid defensively.
“We have to make sure that we’re fresh and that we impose ourselves on the game.”
