Coventry City travelled back up the M5 empty-handed and with plenty of time to reflect on what might have been after what manager Mark Robins described as a “brilliant” away performance. There were plenty of positives to take from the game for the Sky Blues but as assistant Robins’ boss Curtis Fleming pointed out when standing in for Nigel Pearson in his post-match press conference duties, the home side’s team talk had centred on getting the three points by whatever means. And in this case, Bristol City bagged the victory with a scruffy and ugly, hard-fought display.
The harsh facts of the afternoon, however, were that Coventry only had themselves to blame for failing to punish their opponents at one end, and being unable to defend their lines at the other. Here’s some of the big talking points and things we learned from a fruitless trip to Ashton Gate.
Missed opportunity
It felt like a missed opportunity at Ashton Gate where the general consensus from the ‘home’ reporters in the press box was that Bristol City were the worst they’ve seen them so far this season in the first 40-odd minutes of the game. That’s not taking anything away from the Sky Blues who dominated possession with 74 percent of the ball and created several chances in the opening 15-20 minutes, twice hitting the bar from Ben Sheaf and Matty Godden, while Tatsuhiro Sakamoto forced the keeper to save and Ellis Simms and Godden dragged decent opportunities wide. They created eleven attempts on goal on the day but, tellingly, only one of those efforts – Sakamoto’s – was on target. The team’s failure to capitalise when they were on top came back to haunt them in first half stoppage time and was, once again, another reminder that while there are plenty of positives among this new-look side, they are still far from the finished article, with the result seeing them drop three places to 16th.
Sheaf relief tempered by Allen’s absence
Ben Sheaf made a welcome return to the side after six games out with injury and immediately reminded everyone of the quality that the side has missed in the middle of the park. The 25-year-old was calm on the ball, sprayed it around the pitch with a good range of passes and almost gave City the lead with a decent effort that thumped the crossbar. The good news is that the former Arsenal prospect got through the full 90 minutes, showing impressive fitness and little signs of having missed so much football. It was Sod’s law, however, that on the day that such a key man was back, City were without the influence of Jamie Allen who had pulled up earlier in the week with a calf injury.
