Mark Robins praises City defender after the 3-0 win against Arlesey...
Coventry City manager Mark Robins has lauded the effect defender Cyrus Christie had in the 3-0 win over Arlesey Town.
Christie grabbed his first ever senior Coventry City goal after he rounded two defenders and fired home brilliantly in the second half.
He always provided attacking impetus going forward and Robins believes he set an example for others to follow.
The City boss said: "We showed a lack of urgency in the first half and didn't really get going at all how we planned.
"They came with a game plan to break up our play and to hit us on the break and for periods in the opening stages, it worked.
"They had one or two chances to score but we had plenty and could have scored a lot more today.
"But in the second half, I think we got a bit more urgency from the players and certainly with Cyrus Christie getting forward, giving us a threat down that right side, it gave us the attacking impetus.
"I have to be happy though as we got two good goals in the second half and we kept a clean sheet. That was the professional performance I asked for, and that's what I got."
During the first half, the Evo-stik Southern Premier Division side had some good chances with James Hatch and Aston Goss both firing narrowly over from outside the area.
The Ricoh Arena crowd got notably frustrated in spells during the first half and Robins says the players feel the same frustrations.
He added: "It was probably a timely goal in the first half as there was a bit of frustration in the air.
"But they were rightly frustrated. I was frustrated. The players were frustrated. Things weren't going the way they wanted it to and they got frustrated with themselves.
"They were looking to pass to each other and they misplaced a couple which can affect the team’s mentality.
“I was looking at the shirts and the seats on the other side to see if the shirts were blending in with the seats, you know, the old Manchester United versus Southampton effect.
"It certainly looked like they struggled to see each other at certain points during the first half but we picked it up in the second half and came out with the win."