Bristol City assistant head coach Chris Hogg thinks his players did Liam Manning proud after beating Middlesbrough 2-0 at the Riverside Stadium.
Head coach Manning is currently on extended leave following the death of his baby son Theo, with Hogg stepping up.
Both teams wore black armbands at Boro and there was a minute’s applause as a mark of respect for the Manning family.
The travelling supporters celebrated the victory, secured by first-half goals from Anis Mehmeti and Yu Hirakawa, together with the coaching staff and the players after the final whistle, with the team holding a banner on the pitch with the message ‘Fly High Theo’.
Hogg, who grew up not too far from the Riverside and went to school in nearby Yarm, said: “It has been an emotional week.
“You can see the reaction at the end between the players and supporters, this has united the city and the wider support.
“It has been heart-warming. It shows you the power of football and community. The support Liam and his family are getting, I can’t thank people from the bottom of my heart.
“I had to take a minute to compose myself. Liam has a great relationship with all the players. They are good people in there who care.
“It has been tough but they knuckled down how they can. They tried to give everything today. I am so proud of them.
“Seeing the connection between players and fans will live with me forever.
“Ideally I would have liked the ball a bit more. But the spirit they showed was outstanding, defending the box and the blocks.”
Boro fans showed their frustrations at the end of both halves after watching their team struggle to turn possession and opportunities into goals. Both of City’s goals arrived against the run of play.
Mehmeti hammered home in the 27th minute after Hayden Hackney had given the ball away and Japanese winger Hirakawa curled in a lovely finish at the end of the first half.
Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick, whose side have lost two in a row and slipped down to ninth, said: “It has happened too often.
“We can’t be that on top and that creative and have nothing to show for it, never mind be 2-0 down at half-time.
“It is something we have to improve and goals change games. We should have been two or three up before those goals.
“We are all in this together, it is all of us. We have to find ways to do something about it. I thought first half we were good. Second half we weren’t as good and that is something we have to look at.
“I don’t know why you wouldn’t stick with it? One game ago we beat West Brom, we beat Stoke, and we were as good as we could be against Watford for 70 minutes.
“Everyone would have been feeling fantastic and one game later it hasn’t gone to plan.”
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