Robins sees red as he cries ref justice over Leo dismissal
FURIOUS Coventry boss Mark Robins had a pop at referee Darren Bond for his late dismissal of Leo Ostigard.
The Norwegian defender was given his marching orders for two yellow cards in the
83rd minute.
And it left the Sky Blues battling to hang on to a hard-fought point at Ewood Park.
“To go down to 10 men was a travesty, he got his cards out really quickly to send him off,” said Robins.
“The reaction from Leo was unusual.
“He had two stud marks down his leg from where he was stamped on in the first half, which ironically led to him getting a yellow card. And I didn’t feel like there was anything in the second one.
“But that was a massive blow to our chances of winning.”
Thankfully for the Coventry manager, Matty James’ first goal for nearly four years cancelled out Ben Brereton’s
27th-minute opener. “I thought we certainly deserved three points, we played with purpose on a pudding of a pitch,” added Robins.
Wing-back Sam McCallum nearly put them ahead after just 22 seconds but his dipping cross skimmed the top of the Blackburn crossbar.
McCallum then smashed into the side netting soon after.
Remarkably he had another chance in the sixth minute but he dragged his left-foot shot horribly wide.
Jordan Shipley rifled over from an acute angle before Rovers made the visitors pay as they took the lead.
Right-back Ryan Nyambe crossed and Brereton powered home into the left corner with a sweet right-foot strike.
Coventry thought they had equalised moments later but the unfortunate Ostigard’s close-range finish was ruled out for offside.
Barry Douglas struck the visitors’ post with a curling free-kick before goalkeeper Ben Wilson denied Rovers’ leading scorer Adam Armstrong with a good save at his near post.
But the scores were level five minutes after the break thanks to James’ smart finish. McCallum’s cross was headed down by Tyler Walker and the former Leicester midfielder pounced for his first goal since March 2017. Armstrong headed over from a Harvey Elliott cross in the final minute but misfiring Blackburn have now not won in six games.
Rovers boss Tony Mowbray said: “It was a frustrating day for us.
“The team have been focused on trying to get positive results.
“We’ve not been battered by anybody this season but you have to accept you live and die by the results.
“It was another tight game which could have gone either way.
“Coventry are a good side and make life difficult for you and they’re aggressive.”