Bristol City legend predicts mid-table finish and tips teen for Chelsea first team please log in to view this image Though he also stepped out for Fraserburgh, Aston Villa, Reading, Cheltenham, Yeovil and Bath, Scott Murray is synonymous with Bristol City, spending two spells of over five years at Ashton Gate as a player and currently working for the club as kitman. It puts him in a great position to comment on everything going on at the club at present, including star men, future stars and targets for 2016/17. SM on the 2-1 win against Wigan and thoughts on the upcoming season… It was a great start to the season. In the second half, we came out firing on all cylinders and pummelled Wigan for the majority of the game. Lee Johnson has definitely steadied the ship since he’s come to the club. We stayed up pretty comfortably last year, but now it’s a case of pushing on and hopefully we can be in and around mid-table by the end of the season. We’ve got a hungry bunch of players who don’t fear anyone and you saw that last season when we beat Middlesbrough home and away, so we’re going to go out and enjoy ourselves and who knows what’s going to happen. I’m more confident with the signings we’ve made that we’ll stay away from the dogfight of relegation. It’s going to be difficult to compete with the likes of Newcastle, Aston Villa and Norwich and if we have the attitude that we’ll go gung-ho and try and attack them from the off, they’ll pick you apart. It’s best to sit back, remain solid and look to hit on the counter and take what opportunities come to you. I think the way we’re set up to play, the games against the top teams might suit us better SM on Tammy Abraham’s debut and prospects… In Tammy Abraham, Chelsea have got a young kid who will definitely play for their first team. He’s very sharp, quick and enthusiastic and that’s why Lee brought him in. Along with Bobby Reid, he came on, scored and changed the game. Tammy will want to challenge himself in this division and he’ll have one eye on impressing his coaches at Chelsea so he’ll be extremely determined to prove he can play in the top leagues. Obviously, there’s going to be peaks and troughs with the young players and it’s how you cope with those games when they’re not playing well, but this squad is well equipped to do so. SM on the atmosphere at Ashton Gate… With the new stand being open, it was one of the best atmospheres I’ve ever witnessed at Ashton Gate. The new development was absolutely essential for us to establish ourselves as a Championship team and to have a newly refurbished ground with an amazing atmosphere will only help the players on the pitch. The atmosphere at Ashton Gate with only 17,500 was amazing so I can’t wait to see what it’s like when we’re playing Newcastle, Villa and Norwich in front of 27,000. SM on the Robins’ style of play this season… We’re absolutely set up to go away from home and win, and I think that we’re maybe suited better to playing away with our pace and directness and we can really hurt teams on the counter. At the same time though, I think we’ve got a nice balance to our play and as long as we have pace in attack, we’ll cause anyone problems. With Jonathan Kodjia, who scored 20 goals last season, Bobby Reid and Tammy Abraham, we’ve got plenty for the opposition to deal with. SM on the tough fixture schedule ahead… After the cup game, we’ve got a very difficult set of fixtures with Burton Albion away and then we hit the big three in a row. It’s going to be tough against Albion as it will be their first home game of the season after promotion and they’ll really be up for it to prove they deserve to be where they are. I would expect Norwich in particular to be in the top two come the end of the season so it’s going to be very difficult for us to get a result against them. Having said that, this is the perfect time to play the big teams whilst they’re yet to find form and still adjusting to the league. Villa and Newcastle have the best squads in the league and come February and March, when they could be on a 10-15 game winning streak, you don’t want to be playing them then. SM on his prediction for the season and key player to watch… If we managed to finish mid-table, say 12th, I think the fans would be very happy with the season and we can then look to push on. Whilst everyone will say Tammy Abraham is the obvious choice, my key player for us this season will be Gary O’Neil. Having experienced players in your team, especially those who have played in the Premier League, is vital for the younger players and for game situations. He’s an intelligent player who knows how to react in games so his experience will be invaluable for us. https://sports.bwin.com/en/news/foo...ol_city_lee_johnson_tammy_abraham,110874.html
