Bristol City secured their place in the Championship play-offs for the first time in 17 years as they drew 2-2 with Preston North EndLiam Manning and Bristol City have finished sixth in the Championship(Image: EFL)

Liam Manning admits he is “so proud” of his “special” group of Bristol City players after the Robins secured their spot in the Championship play-offs with a draw against Preston North End on Saturday lunchtime.

A brace from Ross McCrorie ensured the Reds came from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Paul Heckingbottom’s side at Ashton Gate. While the point lifted the mood around BS3, it didn’t have a major impact on the league table with City ultimately finishing two points clear of seventh-placed Blackburn Rovers.

Emil Riis handed the away side the lead after 28 minutes when he headed home from a Robbie Brady corner and that advantage was doubled on the hour mark when Milutin Osmajic calmly slotted under Max O’Leary. Just as it looked as though the Robins would fall at the final hurdle, McCrorie scored his fourth and fifth of the season within the space of five minutes to bring a sense of hope to South Bristol.

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Although City’s spot in the play-offs was all-but secured come the full-time whistle, the Reds had to wait on the Ashton Gate pitch for Blackburn’s draw at Sheffield United to be confirmed before the celebrations could truly begin. While it was a moment Manning and his players will never forget, he was still feeling the effects well after the full-time whistle.

“It was a special afternoon,” explained the City boss. “We’ve just said to the lads in there, that football is all about memories and that at the end there was a very special memory for everybody involved.

“It was an exhausting afternoon but you can’t replicate that high,” he continued. “It’s such a difficult thing to do and I’m just proud of the lads.

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“It is the biggest game of some of the lads’ careers today, they won’t have played in such a pressurised game. To be fair, we spoke to them before the game around there’s so much now around philosophies and identities of dominating the ball and doing this and doing that.

“We spoke before the game, about our identity and why we’re so strong is our attitude, our will to fight, our sticking together, the intensity we work at, and the belief we have, it’s the behaviours that are so strong for me in our identity and that’s what got it over the line today.

The Robins had already had chances to secure their play-off spot over the course of the last few weeks. Had the Reds beaten Luton Town at Kenilworth Road on Easter Monday, they would have been mathematically over the line with two games to spare while the same would have been true had they beaten Leeds United a matter of days ago.

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When City fell 2-0 down early in the second half, many inside Ashton Gate would have been concerned that Manning’s side would live to regret those missed opportunities earlier in the campaign. Although the Robins boss would likely have preferred to see his players book their place in the top six in a more straightforward fashion, he was quick to praise them for the way they bounced back, both within the game and in the last week as a whole.

“The lads are human, the lads are desperate to do well and they feel it,” Manning said. “Like I said, when you look at the week we’ve had, to experience what we did on Monday and have a real test of what the level looks like, to then come here and know the pressure’s on and it’s in our hands, the lads have over and over again shown how much they want it, in terms of their actions.

“I’m so proud of them, I’m delighted for them because they’re a special group.”

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