Coventry still not safe from drop despite key win, warns Robins
Mark Robins insisted Coventry still had work to do in their fight against relegation despite sealing a victory which went a long way towards securing their Championship safety.
On-loan Brighton defender Leo Ostigard headed the only goal with 20 minutes left to earn a first away win since January and push the Sky Blues up to 18th, six points clear of danger.
Coventry were good value for the win, one which would have arrived by a more convincing margin but for Rotherham goalkeeper Viktor Johansson. Manager Robins said: “It’s a fantastic result and one I thought we thoroughly deserved. It’s a clean sheet on the road so it’s a good night’s work but we know there’s still a lot of work to do.
“You could see what the result meant to the players at the end, they got their rewards for the work they put in and I’m delighted for them. This isn’t an easy place to come and the level of performance was consistent throughout.”
The hosts looked understandably jaded less than 48 hours after the 3-1 victory over QPR, and Robins’ men should have made them pay for such a pedestrian start.
Only the brilliance of Johansson kept them at bay, as the Swede tipped Liam Kelly’s dipping 25-yard volley onto the underside of the bar inside the first minute.
The Rotherham goalkeeper then did well to block Callum O’hare’s close-range effort before Matt Godden blazed the rebound over. In a chastening opening 10 minutes for Paul Warne’s side, Coventry defender Kyle Mcfadzean should have done better when volleying
wide from Sam Mccallum’s freekick into the area.
It took the Millers almost 25 minutes to muster an attack of note, as Lewis Wing’s thunderous angled drive came back off the post with goalkeeper Ben Wilson rooted to the spot.
Johansson continued to be kept far busier than his opposite number, and excelled again before half-time, stretching full-length to his left to block Tyler Walker’s diving header, Mccallum’s long throw not for the first time the line of supply.
Walker fired wide in a secondhalf scramble as it appeared the hosts might hang on for a point, until after Wes Harding’s foul on Mccallum. Matty James swung over a free-kick from near the corner flag which Ostigard met with a firm close-range header to find the net with the aid of a deflection.
Rotherham still have two games in hand on the majority of their rivals near the bottom, but look to be paying the price of a hectic catchup schedule caused by postponements due to coronavirus.
They are four points from safety midway through a run of four consecutive home games in the space of nine days, and manager Warne said: “We looked tired, and it took us a while to get going but I can’t fault the lads for their effort.”
Rotherham (3-5-1-1): Johansson; Ihiekwe (Sadlier 88), Wood, Macdonald; Olosunde (Giles 60), Wiles (Ladapo 60), Lindsay (Ogbene 77), Wing, Harding (Robertson 77); Crooks; Smith. Booked Wing, Wiles, Wood.
Coventry (3-4-1-2): Wilson; Ostigard, Mcfadzean, Hyam; Dacosta, Kelly, James, Mccallum; O’hare (Hamer 78); M Godden (Gyokeres 72), T Walker (M Biamou 72). Booked Biamou.
Referee Jarred Gillett (Australia).