WHEN it came down to a slug-fest in the mud at Ashton Gate – Dougie Freedman admits he gambled on the fact his side would be able to find the knockout blow.

With three points an absolute must for Bristol City to enhance their slim chances of avoiding the drop, the Wanderers boss knew there would come a time when the Robins would go on all-out attack.

But rather than follow his instinct and instruct his team to sit tight, Freedman revealed after the game that he was glad to have changed his mind and gone in completely the opposite direction.

“I had a decision to make – do I let it happen and see who gets the winner, or tighten up?” he said. “I have been guilty in a couple of games of sitting in but this time I allowed it to open up and learned from it.

“It was end to end and I went with the flow because I felt it suited us better.

“I think I learned a lot from Sean O’Driscoll. He is a top coach and for a few minutes I sat there and tried to work out what it was about. In the end, I let us open up and the reason I did that was because on the break I felt we could create more opportunities, and we did.

“They did too, but we were lucky enough to get a few good blocks in and our keeper made a couple of good saves.”

Bristol City boss O’Driscoll felt aggrieved at the final whistle that referee Mark Haywood had failed to award his side a penalty for what he thought was a late handball by substitute Danny Butterfield.

The Robins boss was also upset that Wanderers’ penalty had been awarded by the referee’s assistant rather than the West Yorkshire official.

But Freedman was confident that Haywood had made the right calls.

“I thought the referee was very strong today,” he said.

“Danny has made a very natural movement and has his hand tucked behind his body, controlling the ball with his chest.

“I think the rules say it’s a penalty if it’s an un-natural movement.

“On our penalty my view was maybe, maybe not, but my analyst who had a clear view said it was a penalty.”