Mark Robins says he is proud of his Sky Blues players after his side were knocked out of the Emirates FA Cup by Premier League Brighton at the AMEX stadium.
Jonson Clarke-Harris did pull one back for City with fifteen minutes left to play, but it was not enough to see the home side progress to the quarter finals.
“I thought that we grew in stature as thee game went on,” said Robins
“It was disappointing that we didn’t adjust ourselves in time with the goals, but we are at the home of a Premier League team. There are balls into the box, at pace, and we have to be able to deal with that. That is the level of our opponents today.
“I thought we did really well. We looked dangerous. We were a threat, particularly in the second half. We scored another goal against a Premier League team and for us it was about trying to give a good account of ourselves, but their quality was too much.”
Across the field there were a number of stand-out performances from the Sky Blues. Notably, Jonson Clarke-Harris who scored his first Coventry goal eight years after becoming the club’s youngest ever player.
“Jonson Clarke-Harris was immense,” said Robins. “I thought he deserved his goal because he could have had a hat-trick after hitting the post twice.
“Jordan Ponticelli was really good when he came on and he made a really good impact. Marc McNulty worked his socks off and it was good to get Jack Grimmer back involved.
“Rod McDonald was good when he came on. Ryan Haynes gave us fresh legs and athleticism from the get-go. Tom Bayliss was good.
“The main thing for us is that we can learn from this game what it takes to be successful. The players worked so hard.
“I was proud of them. I thought it was a really good game from us today. I hope the supporters could see that we were trying to have a go.
He added: “The supporters have been magnificent all season. It is just a shame that the run had to come to an end. If we could have got that second goal then who knows what could have happened.
“We rode our luck for sure, but they did as well. It has been a massive learning curve for everybody and I am sure the supporters would have appreciated that.
“We want to try and give the supporters something to shout about and now we have to finish the season off on a positive.”