Mark Robins says his Sky Blues side lost sight of their early advantage. Picture: PA.
AN IMBALANCE in play proved costly in Coventry City’s late 2-1 Championship defeat to Middlesbrough on Tuesday night – says manager Mark Robins.
It was ultimately a night of agony at St Andrew’s for the Sky Blues, who hit the front through an 11th-minute Anfernee Dijksteel own-goal before Grant Hall’s leveller just before the break, only to lose sight of a valuable point with three minutes to play – George Saville the man to strike the cruel blow.
Although relegation rivals Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham and Birmingham City all failed to win – the latter picking up a point to sit just behind 20th-placed Coventry on goal difference – City are still precariously placed in the battle to beat the drop.
“We ended up not getting the balance right in the first half,” said Robins.
“The way we play, we went too long, even though we went a goal up, you want to try and control the game a little bit.
“We dealt with everything, they’ve not created a great deal other than the goal in the first half.
“Unfortunately we succumbed to the pressure that they were able to build, we’ve got to put that to bed – it’s now a big game on Saturday [against Derby County] for us.
“When Matty James came on I thought he got control of the game and then we started to create a little bit more, we were more of a force and a threat, the quality was just lacking from time to time.”
