Sheffield United's problem-solving and James McAtee's surprise recovery delight manager Paul Heckingbottom

A quality finish from substitute James McAtee – not in the squad on the morning of the game – was all that separated the sides in a 1-0 win.

But Heckingbottom was pleased with the way his side responded to the challenges posed by the Robins and allowed the on-loan Manchester City midfielder to make the difference.

"In the first half their shape, 4-2-3-1, meant the game was man for man all over, really scrappy and bitty," said Heckingbottom. "That's what they want, it suited them a lot more than us.

"We didn't have anyone getting a foot on the ball making sure we tried to play more often than not or receiving enough ball under pressure. If it's a man-for-man game that's all you have to do.

"It made it scrappy and bitty and allowed them to take their time more on throw-ins, set plays, goal kicks. It was the game they wanted, not us, so we had to change shape and also our approach to it and be braver.

"We were a much more attacking force in the second half but we also gave very little away at the other end.

"That was the message to the players, not every game's going to go your way for 90 minutes but we kept our cool in terms of not falling into any traps and then we could make the changes to affect the game and we got better and better."

McAtee was surprisingly left on the bench but it emerged afterwards he picked up an injury in training on Monday.

But he recovered sufficiently to come on for John Fleck at half-time and score the 78th-minute goal which was his fourth in six games.

"He wasn't even in the squad until about five o'clock," explained Heckingbottom. "He left the training ground in a boot on Monday and he was ruled out.

"After the two bad phone calls on Saturday I got a nice one this time saying Macca's feeling a lot better so we gave us a fitness test last thing and he came through it. It was nice to have one of them go our away.

"If he wasn't needed I wouldn't have used him but the game was set up great for him when we needed to change something.

"It's a really good goal, decent play off Bill (Sharp) and Iliman (Ndiaye) close together to start it off. It breaks down but we win the ball back through Lowey (Max Lowe), a first-time pass into Iliman, Sander (Berge) drove from midfield and allowed Iliman to slide Macca in. It was a good, good goal."

Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson was disappointed his side did not make more of the football they played, and especially unhappy with his substitutes.

“I'm a bit annoyed,” admitted the former Sheffield Wednesday captain. “I thought there were some really good things about the performance but the subs didn't have the impact I wanted.

"We didn't get an impact off the bench and it's a shame because we put a lot into the game. We conceded a sloppy goal and (it’s) no points out of two games we played well in. We've got to be better than that and got to learn from it.”