Wright ready to fight as Bristol faces relegation
The last thing on Bailey Wright's mind when he switched from Preston North End to Bristol City in January was the spectre of a relegation fight.
But that's just what the Australia defender is embroiled in with his new club a point adrift of safety at the wrong end of the Championship, having played two more games than nearest rival Wolves.
Wright knows all about life in League One , having escaped its gravitational pull with Preston two seasons back.
And the 24 year-old is digging deep to stave off a return to English football's unglamorous third tier.
Back in October the Robins were as high as fifth. But with one win in 16 Lee Johnson's side are on the slide going into Sunday's (AEDT) six-pointer against fellow struggler Wigan, which sits a point back in 23rd place.
"It's a challenging time for us and every game is vital now," Wright said.
"We've pit ourselves in this position and it's down to us to sort it out.
"We definitely have the quality and ability to stay up. None of us expected to be where we are now but that's the reality of it.
"Were good enough as a group and as individuals.
"But we have to go out and show that, starting at Wigan."
Wright has no simple answers as to why a club with aspirations to be challenging at the other end of the table has hit such a rocky patch.
"Football is a strange game sometimes ... you can play games you deserve to win and you get nothing out of them and we've been there a few few times," he said.
"I'm not saying we've been unlucky because that's down to ourselves but there have been games we should have got something out of. It's been frustrating at times.
"We are confident we can do what it takes but we need to start winning football games.
"This is a club going places. We have a great foundation and a great supporter base and it's a great city.
"Everything is there set for us to do well. We want to progress and where we are now is not where we want to be."
Wright, who captained in the Robins during the recent absence of regular skipper Aaron Wilbraham, was signed in part for his leadership qualities.
And they may come to the fore for his country in this month's World Cup qualifiers against Iraq and UAE.
"The leadership role is something that's part of my game and something's that should continue to grow," said Wright who is a likely starter as one of the stoppers as the road to Russia hots up.
"Recent results with the national team haven't been what we want but we know what we're about and (with three of the last four group games at home) we're still very confident."
