City must learn to win ugly to steer clear of trouble, Bobby Petta has warned.

Bristol City visit Valley Parade tomorrow to begin a run of three matches against sides fighting for their lives in the relegation dogfight.

Clashes with MK Dons and Blackpool follow and Petta admits it is no time for the faint-hearted.

"The table is so tight for this stage of this season and it's not going to be pretty football.

"It's all about the points now, not the performance. If we can play well that's a bonus but it's getting the points that matters. We need to work hard as a team and then I'm sure we will be fine."

After successive draws, City are only three points above Gary Johnson's side, who climbed out of the bottom four with a midweek victory at Scunthorpe.

Petta, back in favour after a month out,

anticipates another no-holds-barred encounter because the stakes remain so high.

"In an ideal world you want to play out of your skin every week. But sometimes there are games when the ball just flies past you, like Swindon last week, and you just have to knuckle down and put a shift in.

"Playing in League Two last season, that was very physical with hardly any good football played. But at least you knew what to expect and that's not the case with this division.

"One week a team will try to get the ball down and play and the next it is bang, bang all the time and being knocked long in the air.

"We always try to play and you enjoy it more when the game is more attractive. But some teams are kick-and-rush and you have to be able to compete with that."

The Dutchman is expected to switch flanks to the right side as Marc Bridge-Wilkinson shifts to a central role to replace the suspended Steve Schumacher. Dean Windass plays his final game before beginning a five-match ban that will keep him out until April.

Petta added: "The gap between us and relegation is so small and that's why there is a bit of tension there.

"Everybody knows we can't afford any slip-ups. But we have got enough quality in the side to turn the results in our favour.

"Our problem is from too many draws and we need three points instead of one all the time."