It may be six games unbeaten. It may be a ninth calendar win on the road away from home and three matches won on the trot away from Ashton Gate. But head coach Lee Johnson recognised that his team got lucky on Saturday.
Stoke City had regrouped over the international break and were fast out of the blocks up in Staffordshire. Everything you would expect from a scolded cat lying at the bottom of the table.
And they deserved their lead as Sam Clucas fired in from Bruno Martins Indi's pull back on four minutes as they won the midfield challenges and got on the front foot.
A red card for Joe Allen changed , however, and following the game Lee Johnson gave his reaction to the Robins's win.
"We started poorly and slowly and we needed something like that [the red card] to get us a foothold in the game," said Johnson after the match.
"I thought Stoke City were excellent in the game. From 0-94 minutes I thought they worked extremely hard, showed commitment and a good attitude and we got away with one.
"But we'll take it. Don't get me wrong. It's a tough division and there are some good players in Stoke's side as there are in lots of Championship sides.
"Our first half performance didn't warrant the win. Our second half warranted winning the half. But probably Stoke in the circumstances didn't deserve to lose," he explained.
And on the red card?
"I know managers always say that but I haven’t had a chance to look at it," said the Bristol City head coach.
"I don’t know - I spoke to Brownhill and he said that he felt a little hard done-by with the atmosphere around him.
"The referee’s made a call. I don't think it was particularly high but it could have been a nasty one. It was too far for me to see to be honest.
"Obviously it was a key match incident because Stoke were much the better side before then," explained the head coach.
The Robins move up to third in the league and now face Swansea City in a mouthwatering match at Ashton Gate on Saturday.
