‘Massive’ win eases relegation worries for Sky Blues
MAX’S EARLY WINNER SEES OFF RIVALS RAMS
MARK Robins hailed Coventry City’s victory over relegation rivals Derby County as “massive,” with the win giving them an eight-point cushion over third from bottom Rotherham.
A clinical finish from Max Biamou gave the Sky Blues the early lead at St Andrew’s where they went close but couldn’t quite score a second against the Rams whose biggest threat was from set plays.
“It’s massive,” said the delighted City manager.
“It’s huge, the performance is always paramount. The other night Middlesbrough were a tough team to play against and we went away from what we did to some degree and we played into their hands, which I didn’t like, so we had a little bit of a reset.”
The clash with Wayne Rooney’s men was billed as a classic six-pointer ahead of kickoff, and the final result leaves Coventry level on 38 points with the Rams, who are slightly ahead on one goal difference.
But, encouragingly, City are ten points off second from bottom Sheffield Wednesday who lose at Reading on a day when results went for them elsewhere with Birmingham also losing at Barnsley and Wycombe slipping up at Stoke.
“There’s pressure around games, you’ve got to accept that,” said Robins. “And I thought we did brilliantly today, first and foremost the clean sheet is outstanding and the play for the goal and the pressure we put on them to force them into a mistake.
“Max had a lot to do to get in the other side of their defenders and he did it brilliantly and then finished really well which gave us a little bit of a settler in the first half.”
He added: “They’re a young side, they try to bring the youngsters through and they had three in the team today. They have some real experience in there as well, a lot of quality and Derby County are a big club and we’re on the same points as them.
“You look at that and that in itself, it’s starting to look a lot brighter.
“In terms of what we did and performance levels, if we can do that then the spirit is there, the desire is there and the commitment is there. Some of the quality is lacking at times but the same is happening in other teams up and down the league at much more expensive teams and much more experienced teams.
“Honestly, credit to the players because they’ve been fantastic and if they continue to do that we’ll pick up results.”
On his decision to play just one man up front, Robins defended his selection, saying: “There seems to be a clamour for two strikers and some
times the games aren’t set for that. It was probably a mistake the other day. Hindsight is a brilliant thing and we went away from what we are. That doesn’t mean to say that there won’t be two strikers in the team from now on because some games it warrants it.
“Today, everybody to a man ran their socks off. We worked hard, we closed them down and we ran out of legs.
“Certainly Callum O’hare and Gus Hamer, who was feeling his groin at halftime, so we tried to put that energy back in with the players we changed.
“I thought we... not held on but managed to bring that energy back into the team to try to get that foothold again.
“They obviously made changes and tried to do the same, and the quality they have got always makes things interesting.
“But we stood firm and the clean sheet is fantastic. The goal was outstanding and the three points are most welcome.”