Mark Robins feels his side have learned some “harsh” lessons after being beaten 3-2 by Watford at Vicarage Road on Saturday afternoon.
Ismaila Sarr’s penalty secured the points for the Hornets after City had turned the game on its head through goals from Gus Hamer and Tyler Walker.
The Sky Blues once again showed their Championship credentials with a good performance, but Robins was frustrated that his side allowed Watford back into the contest so soon after taking the lead.
Robins said: “It’s been a harsh week, we’ve learnt some harsh lessons, but we can’t keep giving chances to teams that have got better players, I should be talking about what a really good performance it was.
“The two goals were brilliant, Tyler Walker’s finish was absolutely outstanding, which is fantastic for us, we got our noses in front coming from a goal down at a place like this against a team that’s just been relegated from the Premier League.
“They’ve got good players, you can’t give them chances, right from the second goal, they conceded a throw-in, we concede the ball and then concede a corner which they score from.”
City were beaten by another late penalty on Saturday afternoon, having lost by the same fate at Nottingham Forest in midweek, and Robins admitted it hurt to lose to a spot kick for the second time in a week.
“We’re just not giving ourselves a chance to grow into the game, they’re under pressure and they’re starting to feel it and we don’t give ourselves enough time to let them feel the pressure.
“The biggest thing for me is that we concede too many goals and we are soft, the goal we conceded, Callum O’Hare’s arms are above his head and gives the referee another decision to make.
“We’ve given a second penalty away that’s cost us a game in a week, two penalties that we should never have been in a position to give them away and it really hurts.”
Robins has asked for his players to be warriors and put their bodies on the line if they want to pick up more points in a tough division.
“They’ve got to understand, I’m looking for warriors, it’s a tough league and I’m not expecting us to roll over and die, we can make sure that we’re more committed.
“It’s really difficult because they’re giving me everything, but we’re playing against Individual players and teams that are better.
“As a team, we’re starting to get there, we’re putting really good performances in and it’s very difficult when we’re losing games like we are, we have to be better and understand that we’re going to have to put bodies on the line on a more regular basis.”