Cotterill hails City spirit

Steve Cotterill believes promotion is won in the "coldest winter months" following Bristol City's 3-1 win over Port Vale.

The City boss felt his team were below par but was delighted by a result that made it six wins and a draw from their last seven League One fixtures. With Swindon losing at Oldham, the Robins opened up a four-point gap at the top of the table with a game in hand on their nearest rivals and Cotterill was delighted his side were able to produce what was needed following Saturday's hard-fought goalless draw against fellow promotion rivals MK Dons. He said: "I'm a perfectionist and, while I loved watching some of our attacking to play tonight, some of our passing was sloppy at times. "I expected that after the game at MK Dons on Saturday. Whenever you play a really big match like that there is likely to be a reaction. "We have a great spirit and a way of playing that the lads really enjoy. There will be setbacks between now and the end of the season, but if we can stay consistent we will be okay. "The only thing that happens in May is that trophies are handed out. You win promotion on dark nights like this over the coldest winter months and we are on a good run going into another big game against Sheffield United on Saturday." Jay Emmanuel-Thomas broke some stern Vale resistance with a solo effort in the 34th minute, driving at the visiting defence before unleashing a fierce left-footed shot from just outside the box. Joe Bryan doubled the advantage just before the hour mark when his left-wing cross took a deflection to loop over goalkeeper Chris Neal and Matt Smith intercepted a poor back pass from Richard Duffy to make it 3-0 eight minutes later. Mark Marshall fired a late consolation past Frank Fielding. Vale boss Rob Page was disappointed with his side's defending. He said: "While I was pleased with a lot of our attacking play, when you give away goals like the ones we conceded against a top side there will only be one outcome. "I knew we wouldn't throw in the towel and even after going 3-0 down we scored a goal and could easily have had another. "We go into every game with a positive attitude and we had good chances throughout the game, including one early on with Chris Birchall's header. With better finishing it might have been different. "Their first goal was a thunderbolt, the second a deflection and the third a gift. There are positives to take from the bright way we attacked against a team with tremendous strength in depth."