The Sky Blues were unlucky to come away from Nottingham Forest with nothing after a tight game at the City Ground.
City were the stronger side in the opening period, but James Perch struck 45 seconds after the restart to give the Reds a valuable win in their fight against relegation.
Chris Coleman brought Robbie Simpson and Aron Gunnarsson back into the team, favouring the 4-5-1 system.
City went on the attack early and had a great opportunity to score in the second minute. Clinton Morrison received the ball in the area with his back to goal and passed back to Guillaume Beuzelin in space - but the Frenchman blasted his shot high over the bar.
Both sides tried to push forward, but neither had a real chance until the 21st minute. Lewis McGugan swung in a free-kick and Luke Chambers sent a powerful header towards goal, which rebounded off the crossbar.
The chance sparked City into life. Morrison won a free-kick 22-yards from goal minutes later, but Fox could not add to his goal tally.
In the 29th minute, after excellent controlled play, Scott Dann fed Morrison, who turned and sent a ball to Freddy Eastwood at the back post - but his outstretched boot could not turn the ball in from four-yards.
Forest were looking nervous all over the park, and City started to push. However, despite a number of corners and half-chances, no chance was good enough to provide a goal.
City thought they had a penalty in the 43rd minute when Gunnarsson broke into the area, but referee Steve Tanner judged the foul to be just outside the penalty area.
The second-half brought about a change of fortunes and Forest were soon ahead.
McGugan received the ball out wide and played in Dexter Blackstock, who held the ball well before laying it off for Perch to fire home.
Forest could have extended their lead in the 56th minute. Dan Fox was dispossessed 30-yards from goal allowing Blackstock a potential one-on-one. Scott Dann made a last ditch tackle to block the shot - and then McGugan failed to fire the loose ball near the goal.
The Sky Blues were struggling to reproduce the edge they had in the first half. Forest began to dominate - but they didn't come close again until the 74th minute.
A testing corner dropped in the middle of the penalty area and eventually bobbled towards Keiren Westwood. He dived to collect but Isaac Osbourne tried to boot it clear - only for the ball to rebound off the crowd of players and back towards goal, going narrowly wide.
Coleman introduced academy star Ashley Cain in the 74th minute in an attempt to inject pace, but Forest were defending well and prevented the Sky Blues from mounting a comeback.
