HAYEN'S POST-MATCH POINTS: BRISTOL CITY

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Head Coach discusses Bristol City defeat

2026-09-05T18:25+01:00

HAYEN'S POST-MATCH POINTS: BRISTOL CITY

Head Coach discusses Bristol City defeat

2026-09-05T18:25+01:00

Nicky Hayen Bristol City

Nicky Hayen spoke of his disappointment having seen the Clarets fall to defeat to Bristol City at Turf Moor on Saturday afternoon.

Speaking after the game, the Head Coach gave an honest reflection on what he wants to see from his squad moving forward and said despite being in a 'difficult moment' that the Clarets will be resilient and keep fighting.

THE RESULT

“It’s very painful and I’m very disappointed. I’m going to be fair, when we were leading 1-0, even if we didn’t play a good game, you had the feeling that we could win this game. This is something that we miss in the team, being ruthless in those kinds of moments.

“It’s been a long time since we won and now, we just needed to push this over the line for the last ten minutes but instead we go from having three points, to one point, to not even having a point. It’s really disappointing.”

THE GOALS CONCEDED

“We want to play too nice, sometimes too soft in duels and 50/50 balls and we just have to be ruthless. Especially when we haven’t won for a long time and you’re leading 1-0. Then you have to play like your life is depending on it and this is something that we don’t do at the moment.”

Nicky Hayen Bristol City

FANS FRUSTRATION

“Of course, I can understand where they are coming from. It’s since February that we haven’t won and since October a home game. So, they are really looking forward to a win and a really good performance. This is something that we don’t deliver at the moment, we have to be fair. I will always protect my group and my players, but some players are also playing under their level and more like an average level. They have to raise their level, otherwise we will stay in difficult moments.”

POST-MATCH MESSAGE

“We will show them [the players] the truth, show them the clips and have individual conversations. That’s the only way you get out of it, and they start to be a team again because they had moments when we were a really good team in the second half against Middlesbrough, but this is something you have to do for 90 minutes. I’m always repeating myself, but we’ll keep fighting.

“There will be a lot of discussions. I’ll protect my team but we’re going to be giving the truth.

“It’s frustrating for me at the moment but I’m not giving up. I was always resilient, I’ve been in even more difficult situations, and I’ve turned it around and I’m sure when everyone sticks together that we’ll do it also.

“You can see with players like Reo coming in now and Igor. Igor is not ready to play but it takes until the international break when everybody will be 100% ready in fitness and then our team will be a really strong team. However, you have to survive until then. And it can be with a few victories, a few losses. But at the moment we’re in a really difficult situation.”