Fankaty Dabo has challenged the Sky Blues to be “more ruthless” ahead of their clash with Stoke City at St Andrew’s on Boxing Day.
City have failed to score in their last two matches and saw their eight-game unbeaten run come to an end at Hillsborough last weekend.
The wing-back acknowledged City’s improved defensive record of late, but still wants the Sky Blues to be more ruthless in both boxes
Dabo said: “We were on an unbeaten for eight games, we know we should have done better against Sheffield Wednesday, but we can’t stop, we have to just keep going and get as many results as we can because we know how difficult the league is.
“At the end of the day we didn’t win, we needed to win, and we needed to be ruthless and we weren’t, we need to make sure, in the next game, when we do create the chances, we take them.
“We need to be more intelligent and more ruthless in front of our own goal and wanting to defend and not concede, we knew we were conceding too many goals and losing games because of it or having to score more which isn’t easy in this league, most good teams start with a good defence.
“We know how good we are, despite how we started the season, we’ve shown against bigger opposition that we can compete, we all know the league and some of the results surprise you and this could be one of them.”
Dabo also admitted that City are trying to return to their attacking style of play that brought them so much success last season
“It is quite difficult, you’re always running, there’s never a day where I’m not doing anything, the games come so thick and fast, but everyone else has to go through it and if you love the game you want to do it anyway.
“We’re trying to get back to being as attacking as we were last season because we’re creating a lot of chances and that’s the way we play, we want to get back to being the best version of us, not just a team that defends and tries to win one-nil.
“Everyone wants to play in the best leagues they can, hopefully this is just a pit-stop for us to improve, stay up this season and kick on next season and get to the Premier League.
“It’s better opposition, the players are better, the managers are better, the tactics are better and it’s different, you have to adapt and learn every single game because if you don’t, you’ll get caught out.”
The 25-year-old is pleased to have a week off before the Boxing Day clash with the Potters but accepted that he still needs to be sensible over the Christmas period.
“Having had a week off I feel a bit more recovered, the body isn’t too bad, it’s not as relentless on me, it’s nice to have a week off.
“I’ll spend Christmas Day with my family, nice and chilled, we’re all in the spirit now, all the presents are wrapped, and it’ll be nice for my kids to open their presents and see what they’ve got.
“You’ve got to be sensible, if you’re not, you’re not being professional, even though it’s the festive season, you’ve got a job to do the next day, so you have to be careful.”