Liam Manning was keeping both feet firmly on the ground after a second-half brace from substitute George Earthy sent his Bristol City team into the Championship top six after a 2-1 comeback win over Middlesbrough.
The West Ham loanee fired home from a Cam Pring cross nine minutes after coming on – as a 63rd-minute replacement for Anis Mehmeti – and then pounced to stab in the winner after Scott Twine’s 82nd-minute free-kick came back off the crossbar.
Boro had looked set to end what is now a five-match losing streak when Tommy Conway scored against his old club after 37 minutes, heading into an unguarded net after goalkeeper Max O’Leary parried Kelechi Iheanacho’s shot into his path.
But it was all City after the interval, with Boro goalkeeper Mark Travers performing heroics to prevent a bigger defeat.
City head coach Manning said: “Nothing will change because we have reached the top six. As ever, we will enjoy the victory for a couple of days and then it is back to more hard work.
“That has been the mentality for a long time now and is the way we manage the growing expectations among our fans. The most exciting thing for me is the undoubted progress we are making.
“We have a group of players who respond positively to any setback. I am delighted for George Earthy tonight because he sums up the work ethic of the squad.
“He is on loan from a Premier League club, yet there is not the slightest ego about him. This is not the first time he has made an impact from the bench.
“I thought the team were very good throughout the match. In the first half we just lacked that bit of quality in the opposition box. There was an element of frustration at half-time, but not a lot needed changing.”
Boro boss Michael Carrick admitted his side were “hurting really badly at the moment” after just one win in their last nine matches in all competitions to sit 11th.
He said: “We’ve been ahead in a lot of matches and come away with nothing. That’s what’s hurting us.
“Their first goal changes the game and the second from the free-kick was totally the wrong decision from the referee. Their player was looking for contact.
“The situation we’re in, we need things to go our way to give us a bit of a leg-up. Instead, we got a bad decision.
“It’s not a good run at all, but things could have been a lot different. Professionally, I’ve got an immense amount of pride. I care for the club, care for the supporters and hugely care for the players.
“We’re hurting really badly at the moment, but we’ve got to fight our way out of it.
“Sticking together is not the issue. In terms of effort, application and willingness to do the right thing, it’s all there, but the results aren’t.”
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