Leicester boss Sven-Goran Eriksson admitted the Foxes were not at their best in the 2-0 npower Championship defeat at Bristol City. Steve Howard saw his penalty saved by David James in the 21st minute and the game went away from the visitor's.

Eriksson was left wondering how his team had gone away empty-handed after dominating much of the match, although he was impressed by his players' performance in defeat.

He said: "Again we demonstrated what a good team we are by totally controlling the first half.

"But we missed a penalty and some other chances and Bristol improved considerably in the second half.

"Then we gave away the two goals they scored far too easily with some poor defending.

"It ended up a bad day at the office for us, but we have the chance to bounce back quickly with a big game against Nottingham Forest.

"There are big expectations at the club for this season and I prefer it that way. But we cannot hope to win promotion if we lose games like that."

Bristol manager Keith Millen felt the penalty miss provided a springboard for his team to claim victory after being outplayed by the visitors.

Millen said: "That was a big moment in the game. Perhaps I got it wrong tactically in the first half, but our main problem was that we kept giving the ball away.

"We sent on Brett Pitman as a second striker after the break because we needed to cause Leicester more problems going forward.

"The lads had battled hard to stay in the game and it was great for us that two strikers went on as replacements and both scored.

"Brett's goal will do him the world of good as it was his first for the club.

"We have been using him sparingly while he adjusts to a higher level of football, but he is a quality player who will get more for us."