Mark Robins was pleased with the way his side played the occasion, as they saw past Maidstone United in the FA Cup fifth round.
Ellis Simms scored a hat-trick and Fabio Tavares scored twice, as the Sky Blues booked their place in the quarter-finals of the competition.
Speaking after the final whistle, Robins congratulated Maidstone on their journey and also provided an update on the latest on Tatsuhiro Sakamoto.
Maidstone’s journey ending…
“Congratulations to Maidstone first and foremost because George is doing a fantastic job there and that needs to be said.
They gave everything and they put us under pressure and fought for everything and they made changes in the game, and they fought for everything as well.”
Breaking down Maidstone United…
“If you do things right and you’re on the front foot and look to move the ball well and make them, feel the difference in quality then that sets you up and we did that.
We kept possession and we tried to move them to drag them out because they wanted to sit behind the ball, and you want to get down the side of them to create chances to shoot and score rather than keep the ball at the back.
They sat in and we found some spaces and dragged them around and Kasey Palmer on the ball found those spaces and slid balls through and we tried it a few times but didn’t get it through them.
They were playing narrow so we couldn’t do that, so we had to go wide and switch the play to open things up and we did that and we got the ball into Kasey’s feet and he slipped the ball down the side for Ellis and he scores.”
Ellis Simms scoring a hat-trick…
“He scored three really good goals. He’s followed in for the third and out it into the empty net, similar to Fabio’s second goal.
They worked really well and to win by five and not concede and make it into the quarter-finals is all you can ask for.
You win 5-0, there’s no well done’s or pats on the back, you’re expected to win, everyone is looking for an upset and thankfully we didn’t give them.”
Fabio Tavares scoring twice…
“It was pleasing for Fabio.
He got injured in this competition last year as everyone remembers and he’s spent the last twelve months, so for him to get those chances and to have the composure and technique to score them was really pleasing.”
Update on Tatsuhiro Sakamoto…
“Tatsu is going to be out for a little while and he’s going to miss the rest of the season.
He will recover and that’s the main thing, but I don’t want to tell everyone what it is yet because I want to let things settle down and make sure Tatsu is ok.
We will keep in touch and give him as much support as we can and help him get through this period whilst he’s recovering.
He will be eight to ten weeks, but that sees him out for the rest of the season.”