{"id":69133,"date":"2025-05-02T18:57:25","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T18:57:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/69133\/"},"modified":"2025-05-02T18:57:25","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T18:57:25","slug":"liam-manning-issues-message-to-bristol-city-fans-ahead-of-play-off-defining-clash-with-preston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/69133\/","title":{"rendered":"Liam Manning issues message to Bristol City fans ahead of play-off-defining clash with Preston"},"content":{"rendered":"

Liam Manning and Bristol City know that a win against Preston North End at Ashton Gate will guarantee their place in the Championship play-offsLiam Manning and Bristol City are a win away from the play-offs(Image: David Davies\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n

Liam Manning has issued a message to Bristol City<\/a> fans ahead of the Robins’ play-off-defining clash with Preston North End, urging them to bring a “party” atmosphere to Ashton Gate on the final day of the regular season.<\/p>\n

The Reds welcome the Lilywhites to BS3 on Saturday lunchtime as they look to secure a first win in three matches and confirm their place in the play-offs. Manning’s side currently sit fifth in the Championship, one point clear of sixth-placed Coventry City, two ahead of both Millwall and Blackburn Rovers and three above Middlesbrough. Though City could still finish in the top six with a defeat should other results go their way, only a win will guarantee their spot in the play-offs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Preston come into this weekend’s game without a win in any of their last eight matches in all competitions and just a single point above the relegation zone. While, like City, they could dodge the drop even with a loss should Hull City and Luton Town both drop points<\/a>, they’ll need to claim maximum points to confirm their place in the Championship next term.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Zak Vyner: Bristol City defender on play-off final trip, learning from Leeds and top six race<\/a>READ MORE: Liam Manning explains what play-off finish would mean after Bristol City boss’ ‘toughest year’<\/a><\/p>\n

In truth, there couldn’t be an awful lot more riding on Saturday’s match for both sides and naturally, that will ensure some heading to Ashton Gate<\/a> will be feeling rather nervous. Of course, Manning and his players recognise that but the City boss has urged the home crowd to create an atmosphere similar to that displayed at Elland Road this week, rather than one of anxiety.<\/p>\n

“We get it, I understand it, people are apprehensive especially when you’re so driven by the outcome and wanting it, you can freeze a bit and wait to see what happens,” the head coach explained in his pre-match press conference. “But that would be my big message, turn up and make it a right atmosphere. Turn it into a party atmosphere, and get behind the lads.<\/p>\n

“It’s the final one of the season, it’s been quite a while since the club have had something to play for like we’ve got at the weekend so make the most of it, enjoy the memory, get behind the lads and give everything.<\/p>\n

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“My message will be no different to the lads, we’ve done terrifically well at home so it’s turn up, run as much as you can, fight as much as you can, play with real purpose, with bravery, go and do us and get it over the line.”<\/p>\n

For the first time in Manning’s tenure in the West Country, there will be home supporters in all four stands at Ashton Gate on Saturday afternoon with a section of the Atyeo Stand set to host home fans<\/a> as well as those who make the journey from Lancashire.<\/p>\n

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Prior to and during the redevelopment of the Reds’ stadium, such an arrangement was commonplace. However, in recent years, the smallest of the four stands has tended to only house travelling supporters other than on the odd occasion such as the 125th anniversary clash with Fulham<\/a> in March of 2020. While Manning isn’t particularly concerned by the change himself, he thinks it can only benefit his side on the pitch.<\/p>\n

“It will definitely help the lads,” the head coach told Bristol Live<\/a>. “It’s one of those, I think you can make it a thing but for me, it’s not. In terms of whatever way we start, the lads are quite clear, you’re playing the game and doing what we need to do.<\/p>\n

“So for me, it’s one of those, it is what it is. The more noise around the place the better, if we get more noise down that end then great.”<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Joe Williams, Scott Twine and Harry Cornick: Bristol City team news ahead of Preston visit<\/a>READ MORE: Supercomputer predicts Bristol City and play-off rivals’ last-day results and final league table<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liam Manning and Bristol City know that a win against Preston North End at Ashton Gate will guarantee…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,2686,748,393,4884,10583,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-69133","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-bristol-city-fc","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-liam-manning","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114439772122951874","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}