Sky Blues Under-23s Head Coach, Luke Tisdale was left frustrated after his side conceded late on against Birmingham City on Sunday afternoon.
It was the Sky Blues first Professional Development League fixture of the new season and after Jordan Young had given City the lead, Birmingham would go on to find an equaliser with less than a minute remaining.
However, despite seeing three points snatched away at the death, Tisdale was able to take the positives from the game.
“We had spoken all week about being determined and showing a lot of resilience and having no excuses at the end of the game and to be fair to the lads they’ve done everything we asked of them.
“But they’ve just switched off with less than minute to go and that’s what cost us against a strong Birmingham side as well.
“There are a lot of positives to take from the game, but it’s hard to get away from the fact we’ve conceded with less than a minute to go and dropped two points.”
Two of those positives to take were the return to action for duo, Joe Newton and Dan Bartlett, who had both been out with injuries.
Bartlett saw his season cut short last year, as he suffered an ACL injury back in 2019, whilst Newton broke his leg during lockdown, which meant he missed pre-season.
“It was great for Barts (Dan Bartlett) to be back out there and him and Joe both deserve a lot of credit because it’s been a really tough journey for them, especially with Dan who had an ACL injury.
“Newton broke his leg in lockdown and trained with us for four sessions and had to play 90 minutes, whilst Barts played 45 on his return.
“It had been a long time for Barts so it was great to have him back and he looked good as well which is important, and you can see that he’s still a very talented footballer.”
Along with the first team, the 23s had gone over six months without a competitive fixture, due to the global pandemic which caused the suspension of football.
So, it was a special moment for the Sky Blues Development side to finally make their long-awaited return to action on the weekend.
“It was nice to have a game and I think it’s what everyone had been waiting for.
“It’s nice to have friendlies but to be back out on the pitch with that competitive edge, playing for points is really good and it’s why we’re devastated we didn’t get all three points against Birmingham, but we have to take the one point and we move on.”
Sky Blues Xl: Cian Tyler (GK), Jack Burroughs (46’ Bartlett), Blaine Rowe, Morgan Williams (C) (46’ G.Burroughs), Jay McGrath, Joe Newton, Dan Lafferty (73’ Howley), Jordan Young, Joe Nightingale, Trialist, David Bremang.
Unused Subs: Keelan Fallows (GK), Sam Rodber.