Lee Johnson’s Bristol City can use Cup run to boost promotion hopes

Bristol City pushed Manchester City hard and Lee Johnson wants to build on the semi-final to reach Premier League

After the tantalising and rip-roaring first leg, Pep Guardiola invited Lee Johnson and his Bristol City coaching staff in to his office to talk over what was a truly glorious advert for football. They bounced questions off each other, which included the Manchester City manager asking whether the faded lines on the Ashton Gate pitch were a clever tactical ploy. But the white lines in question are the rugby markings, used not by the Championship football team but the Championship rugby club.

On Tuesday night, Guardiola and the rest of his squad experienced this revamped and rocking sold-out stadium for themselves, as well as a rousing rendition or two of The Wurzels’ back catalogue. If Guardiola’s intrigue was a veiled compliment, his words afterwards were explicit.

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