Cotterill lauds Emmanuel-Thomas

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The triker had been racking up the assists in recent weeks to allow Fulham loanee Matt Smith to grab the headlines but he was back in the spotlight as they cruised past Doncaster Rovers 2-0 on Tuesday.

His first goal was a poacher’s effort but his sixth of the season in the 78th minute was a typical Emmanuel-Thomas strike, weaving through bodies before keeping a cool head to seal their progress.

“Jay has been a wonderful boy, he is top top class,” Robins boss Cotterill purred.

“When he is fit and when he gets around the field he will always be involved. When he is involved the one thing he does do is he gets bums off seats and he gets people stood up.

“When I’m in that technical area I am at it because I know something special is going to happen.

“To be honest I was more pleased with his first goal than his last goal. I see his last goal scored every day of the week. But I keep moaning at him to get in there and score a header.

“One thing he is this season, he is fitter. When he’s involved in the game and runs around, I think he looks a top player.”

City have now lost just once at home all season heading into the visit of the Hammers and Cotterill is relishing the televised tie at Ashton Gate.

“It is going to be a fantastic day for everyone at the football club,” he added. “I just hope that when that day comes we can enjoy it. We will be prepared but I hope we can enjoy it.”

While City continue to fight on three fronts, Doncaster boss Paul Dickov has to focus on League One and he admits his side failed to take their chances.

Rovers enjoyed a fruitful five minutes before the break and also saw Mark Little head James Coppinger’s curling effort off the line as they paid for their failure to kill off the Robins when 1-0 up in the initial tie.

“We felt we had a chance of coming down here and winning the tie after the first game, the Scot explained.

“The first was a poor goal from our point of view. It was from a set-piece which we’ve been good at so that was disappointing.

“The players gave it a good go and we created a couple of chances before half-time and had one cleared off the line.

“Second half we changed the system and for 15 or 20 minutes we caused them problems without having the quality in the final third.

“It is difficult to be hard on the players because in the last few weeks we have been really good. I thought we showed good quality on the ball. Emmanuel-Thomas was different class all night and that bit of quality shone through.”