Gerhard Struber details Bristol City 'learning points' from first league loss ahead of Preston | Bristol Live

Gerhard Struber and Bristol City are looking to bounce back from their first league loss of the season against Preston North End

Bristol City have learned just how close this season’s Championship is set to be after their defeat to Oxford United, Gerhard Struber has explained, but the Reds' focus is now on their trip to Preston North End rather than their first league loss.

The Robins' unbeaten start to the league campaign was brought to an end by Gary Rowett's side last weekend, as the U's ran out 3-1 winners at Ashton Gate. For the first time under Struber in the Championship, City were unable to take their chances in the final third, and gave up three soft goals from set-pieces.

But with teams around the Reds also dropping points over the course of the weekend, Struber's side remain third in the Championship after six games, five points adrift of table-toppers Middlesbrough but level on points with this weekend's opponents, Preston.

City travel to Deepdale to face the Lilywhites on Saturday afternoon as they look to get back to winning ways. Although Struber is keen to park last weekend's disappointing result and move on, he has taken time to reflect and learn from his side's frustrating display.

“The emotion or the feeling gets not better when you look back,” the head coach told Bristol Live when asked if he had watched back Sunday's defeat. “But sometimes, it’s good to see how close we were in the end to come and score in moments.

“Sometimes in games, you have to deal with that, and also sometimes, you have to accept that yes, this was a game where you find not always a clear description about everything, why that or why that.

“We have to make a check, and the learning points are that we can see how close is the Championship and every single opponent has some strengths where we have to deal with. I think, of course, when you realise chances like that, we should score and then maybe the game looks in a completely different way.

“But this is always after a game, you can speak so many things. But we were, I can say again, in both boxes, we were not sharp enough on this game day. This makes in the end the difference.

“I think this is super important that we find here, small adjustments," Struber continued. "What can we do in game coaching but also maybe that we are flexible and change in some moments also the system a little bit.

"In this direction, we have to be flexible, elastic, to change in game and sometimes also the formation a little bit so that the relevant points from the opponent are not so easy to find and we give them more problems. In this direction we spoke, we analysed the game and we know and learn a little bit more."

As they made their way off the field after the defeat to Oxford, it was clear to those who remained in their seats at Ashton Gate that Struber’s players were frustrated with their own performance. Both the head coach and captain, Jason Knight, echoed that sentiment in their post-match interviews, where they made no secret of their disappointment, as individuals and a collective.

Knight, in particular, called for a reaction from both himself and his teammates, both in training and at Deepdale on Saturday afternoon. While the mood in the changing room was deflated on Sunday afternoon, Struber doesn't view that as a negative and has been impressed by what he's seen on the Failand training pitches in the days since.

“I think the boys are - and this is a good signal when a dressing room is after a defeat on this level where we are - we were super frustrated, super disappointed," he explained. "On the same time, I think this speaks for the group here.

"They can make a check, they learn, and they show me the last days, a really, really good training. I think it’s always important that we are able to criticise some things in a good way, but also, make on the right time a check and look forward at what will come, and we have a really interesting game on Saturday."