Bristol City 'chasing freshness' - Manning

Bristol City are unbeaten in their past seven games ahead of facing Burnley on Saturday

Bristol City are "chasing freshness" going into the final eight games of the season, says boss Liam Manning.

The team are in the heart of the play-off fight, lying seventh in the table and level on points with West Brom above them and two behind Coventry in fifth place.

They travel to Burnley on Saturday for their first fixture after the international break on a seven-game unbeaten run.

"You're chasing freshness now, that's the big bit," Manning told BBC Radio Bristol.

"Early stages of the season, you can push the lads really hard in terms of pre-season, [then] roll into the games, you're still building up the fitness, what they need to get through the season.

"Everything now is about being fresh on a Saturday, making sure we've got as many ready as possible and we're in a good spot, it's being a little bit more sensible how we manage the programme."

The Robins have been given a boost for the final run-in by the return of defender Ross McCrorie from a hamstring injury.

The 25-year-old has not played since the 1-1 draw with Cardiff City on 15 February.

"Ross McCrorie's trained so he's back in contention, which is good," Manning said.

Ross McCrorie has returned to the squad from a hamstring injury

The Robins are aiming to finish in the play-off places for the first time since 2007-08, when they were beaten by Hull in the Wembley play-off final.

However, Manning, who was appointed in November 2023, said he will not deem the season as a success based solely on making it into the top six.

"Do I want it? Of course I do. That's why I work as hard as I can, the lads push themselves as high as they can. We want to try and achieve that," he said.

"Whether it's a success or not is different in terms of huge strides [made], huge progress and in quiet a short space of time. I think you can see some fantastic football we've played this season and it's about continuously pushing on that."

Manning has previously said he wants Robins fans to "be excited" about their league position and added it was nice for the players to go into this stage of the season "with something to play for".

They have finished 11th, 14th, 17th, 19th and 12th in the past five seasons.

"Understanding how you manage that, how much energy you put into it, all the boys energy has to go into making sure we're prepared for Saturday," he said.