Sky Blues boss Mark Robins shared his thoughts following his side’s 1-1 draw with Blackpool at the Coventry Building Society Arena tonight.
Viktor Gyökeres restored parity late on in the first half following Gary Madine’s opener for the away side, as Robins’ side earned a point under the lights this evening.
“First and foremost, I think we’ve got to say that it was a brilliant level of performance after Saturday’s game,” Robins highlighted.
“You know coming into it that you are going to tire at some point, but they started off like a house on fire. What we needed to do in that spell was take the lead, we didn’t quite have the finish, but we kept going, kept moving the ball really quickly, kept causing no end of problems.
“But again it was that final, clinical touch that we didn’t have. Although we had goals disallowed, offsides and what not, their goalkeeper was busier of the two and when they make their first foray into our penalty area it ends up in the back of the net.
“We have to do better and keep the ball out of the net, it’s as simple as that, when we’re not as clinical as we need to be at the other end.
“We are a really good team. They are playing out of their skins, they’re moving the ball really well, we are so close to being a top, top team, and that’s the frustration that everybody will feel. But, we’ve got to remind everybody that is us at the moment.
“The players were absolutely magnificent in terms of the last half an hour; you know that’s going to catch up with us, the game on Saturday. That was the concern, we haven’t got enough to try and make too many changes. I didn’t really want to make that many changes on the back of the game on Saturday either, so it is where we’re at.”
Robins also reflected on Gyökeres’ equaliser moments from half time, as the Swedish striker added to his goal from last time out against Southampton.
“To come back in the manner that we did, Moore showed brilliant presence of mind, great execution on the delivery, brilliant strength and pace from Viktor [Gyökeres] and he’s picked his spot magnificently to level.
“We could’ve gone in a goal up, again from a corner or set play that we didn’t end up getting on the end of. Again, second half, loads of chances, didn’t read or anticipate well enough and certainly at the end of the game where we had a brilliant header from Michael Rose. Goalkeeper has saved it, another corner comes in and we’ve not reacted to the second ball.
“Gustavo [Hamer] was absolutely outstanding today, he was all over the place. Out of possession he was magnificent, in possession he was really, really good. He was driving the midfield today, on the back of Sheaf contributing massively on Saturday. Difficult, but he’s completed another game. It’s just incredible how they keep going, and Viktor is the same. The energy levels required for the two games with a short turnaround is phenomenal.
“You’ve got to take it; it’s not a defeat. We’ve got back into the game having been a goal down and given away a poor goal. They played brilliant football, they’ve been unfortunate with one or two decisions, a couple of goals disallowed, the supporters right behind them. I think there’s a lot to be happy about.”
Following the post-match interview, Robins also confirmed that midfielders Josh Eccles and Liam Kelly will be out for up to eight weeks, with Josh suffering a calf injury and Liam a hamstring injury.