The Sky Blues manager said the side should have won the derby but praised Gary Madine and Matthew Pennington for their performances...
Coventry City manager Steven Pressley has stated that the Sky Blues' performance against Walsall merited three points despite drawing 0-0 at the Ricoh Arena.
City were unable to convert their second-half pressure into a goal, but Pressley added that keeping a clean-sheet was also important as the Sky Blues look to build momentum.
"It was a really tough League One game against an in-form Walsall side," the City boss said.
"They have the best defensive record in League One and you can see why. But I thought after the opening 20 minutes we had control of the game over long periods and we certainly had the vast majority of possession and pressure.
"We worked exceptionally hard and we put them under a lot of pressure particularly in the second-half, we hit some great crosses into the box and we were very unfortunate not to win the game.
"A pleasing aspect is that we now have our third clean sheet in four games, which gives us a foundation to build on.
"Full credit to Walsall for dealing with our pressure, they worked hard to keep a clean-sheet but overall it was a reasonable performance, not a top performance. We worked hard and I think our play merited the three points."
City had what looked like a clear penalty turned down in the first-half when Gary Madine was grappled to the floor by a Saddlers defender, as the loanee was once again influential for the Sky Blues.
Pressley hailed the striker, who extended his loan stay from Sheffield Wednesday today and also reserved praise for Matthew Pennington, who made his debut just two days after signing for the club on loan from Everton.
The Scot continued: "Gary was outstanding and one of our best performers today. The link play is so important and I've said that since we lost Leon Clarke in January. Gary was a focal point and has been brilliant.
"Also young Matty coming into the side today, I thought he was outstanding. He had only trained one day with us too which is impressive as he put in a performance beyond his years.
"Again we didn't get the call on the penalty. It is another contentious decision that hasn't gone our way, but I haven't spoken to the referee about the decision. As I've said before though if you keep working hard these decisions will turn."