Bristol City Football Club

• Nickname:The Robins
• Founded:1894
• Manager:Sean O'Driscoll

• Ground:Ashton Gate
• Capacity:21479

McCombe: Flexibility is key

23 Oct 2009 - 16:41:16

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Bristol City centre-back Jamie McCombe believes manager Gary Johnson's varying tactics are yielding rewards this season as the Robins fly high at the top end of the table.

City eventually beat Plymouth Argyle 3-1 in midweek and after starting the game using a 4-3-3 formation, the boss reverted to a 3-5-2 line-up then to a more familiar 4-4-2 system.

The giant centre-half thinks their flexibility is helping them outfox teams in the second tier this season.

Speaking to the Evening Post, he said: "It's something we've worked on more than ever in training since we reported back in the summer.

"We used to switch between 4-4-2 and 4-5-1 on a regular basis and then tried a 4-3-3, with some success, last season.

"But playing with wing-backs and three centre-backs is something we've only been able to add to our repertoire more recently.

"It's possible now because we have a lot of very intelligent players here and they understand the game and are bright enough to pick up on things quickly."