Bristol City boss Gerhard Struber hails ‘massive win’ at Portsmouth

Gerhard Struber hailed Bristol City’s 1-0 victory at Portsmouth as a “massive win” as the Robins got their Championship play-off push back on track.

Anis Mehmeti’s 17th-minute header gave Struber’s side a deserved victory and dropped Pompey into the relegation zone.

Struber, whose side had won just once in their previous five games, said: “It’s a massive win for our confidence. I was so pleased because they were on a really high level today.

“I’m very happy, especially having bounced back from the Wrexham game.

“I think we prepared a really good atmosphere for ourselves today and you know, when you want to pick up points here in this stadium, you have to come on a really good level performance-wise.”

City might have been out of sight after half an hour as they completely dominated their hosts and the only disappointment for Struber will have been that his team did not win by a wider margin.

He added: “The aggression, the intensity, the distances, but also in on-ball moments, clear, clean decision-making, everything on a level.

“I think to win here in the end, you need every single player, all of them.

“How we dealt with the atmosphere, with the game from them, was on a really high level. I am really pleased with how we did it.”

Portsmouth did improve after the break but needed until the 78th minute to register their first shot on target.

Colby Bishop saw one effort dribble agonizingly across the goal line and another brilliantly saved by Radek Vitek.

Pompey manager John Mousinho admitted a lack of goals is a cause for concern.

Mousinho said: “I think the league position is obviously something we’re not pleased with.

“But what’s more concerning is that first 25 minutes. We just didn’t do any of the basics of the game particularly well. I don’t think we competed.

“We couldn’t really get ourselves going, losing second balls, losing challenges, 50-50s, not clearing our lines properly. That gave Bristol City a lot of momentum.”

The home support made their feelings known throughout and many booed their team off at the final whistle.

Mousinho said: “It was very difficult to look at that side and think it resembled anything like the Portsmouth side that we need to come out and win games here.

“I think it was as concerning to me as it felt in the stadium. There’s plenty of time left in the season, obviously. There’s no panic at all. We’ve got plenty of games between now and Christmas.”