‘THIS ONE IS FOR SACKED STEVEN’
COVENTRY started life after Steven Pressley with a win and interim manager Neil MacFarlane dedicated the result to the former Sky Blues boss.
Pressley was sacked last Monday following a dismal run of form that saw Coventry drop into the League One relegation zone.
But early goals from loanees Chris Stokes and Dominic Samuel were enough to see the Sky Blues pick up their first win at the Ricoh Arena since October – MK Dons on the receiving end – and climb out of the bottom four.
“It’s a massive three points for the football club, and that one’s for the gaffer,” said MacFarlane.
“We rode our luck, and we actually got the wee breaks at the right time that Steven and I had been craving as a managerial partnership over the last few months.
“When you haven’t won at home for a number of months, I think a game like this is probably the kind of game it probably takes just to turn the corner at home.
“I’m just really, really proud of the boys. It’s been a tough week for me personally and all the staff, and everybody’s mucked in just to get us that three points.
“Obviously with the manager leaving, the last thing that we want is to see this club getting relegated, so hopefully this was a step in the right direction towards that not happening.”
Pressley’s former number two couldn’t have wished for a better start, with Forest Green Rovers left-back Stokes marking his loan debut by heading home from a corner in the ninth minute.
John Fleck surged forward from midfield three minutes later to set up Samuel, who slotted past Ian McLoughlin to score his fourth goal in five appearances since joining from Reading in January.
The Dons found another gear after the interval, and their efforts were soon rewarded, with Daniel Powell pulling them back into the game after fine work from former Coventry man Carl Baker down the left.
MacFarlane’s side had little answer to the succession of attacks from the visitors in the second half, but withstood the onslaught to pick up their first home win in four months.
But Dons boss Karl Robinson remained upbeat, with his side holding on to second place ahead of Preston despite their third defeat in five matches.
“That was 100 per cent a freak result,” he said. “There were two or three mistakes in a number of different components for Coventry’s first goal.
“For the second goal, it’s just simple, simple, small errors. And after their second goal in the 12th minute, they didn’t have another shot.
“I’m so, so proud of my players and the fans. They were brilliant. If we play like that every week, we go up.
“Like I said to the players in the dressing room, winners accept these games, even if in frustration.
“We don’t accept them because we like them, but we accept them and we know what we have to do to turn it back around. And that is for us to ensure we keep performing to those levels.”