Bristol City boss Nigel Pearson blasts 'invisible' players ahead of Preston North End clash

PNE’s initial fixture against the Robins was postponed due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II as all football for that weekend was called off.

At the time, City were fourth in the league and were one of the faster starters to the new season, now however they find themselves in the bottom half.

Ngiel Pearson is one of the longest serving managers in the division, only three bosses have been at their clubs longer than he has, having been at Ashton Gate for just a year and seven months.

His side come into the game after a defeat to Birmingham City where Pearson called his players ‘invisible’ and implied they were shying away from the bioccasions they find themselves in as their winless run was extended to five games.

The 59-year-old did not pull any punches when he gave his assessment of his side on Saturday, and their next challenge will be hosting PNE on Wednesday night, 7:45pm.

He said: "It’s a very poor performance, too many individuals were way, way off their levels of performance. But what really disappointed me was that there were some players out there who were invisible.

“We didn’t show any positivity with our mindset, the number of passes that we went back to the goalkeeper was just mind blowing and that’s to do with players not wanting to take responsibility and that’s a difficult thing for me to say because it’s my team and ultimately my responsibility so I’m disappointed in that.

"That as a performance is not something that we’ve been about this season. What we’ve shown today we still have a lot to work at in terms of being able to manage situations when players aren’t going to be at their best every game but what they need to do is still be effective and still do a job and today we were a way short of that and that’s ultimately my responsibility.

“I don’t like to see players going through difficult days like that but look I would still prefer players to be visible when they’re having a bad day. What I don’t like is when players try to mask it.