Big positive to ill Robins
By JANINE SELF at the CBS Arena
IF Mark Robins is superstitious then Coventry have a problem.
The Sky Blues coach missed this glorious rout of Sheffield United after testing positive for Covid.
And the players did just fine without him, coming from behind in a masterclass of relentless running and high press, with a finish to match.
They could have gone into double figures but settled instead for an equaliser from the brilliant Viktor Gyokeres, two goals by Callum O’Hare and a Matty Godden strike, while keeper Wes Foderingham was the Blades’ best player.
Shell-shocked United boss Paul Heckingbottom said: “It was a bad day at the office. We got beat by the better team, no complaints.
“Wes was our man of the match and the only one to hold his head up high.
“We had too many players who all had a bad day on the same day and, when that happens, it is going to be really difficult.
“We didn’t manage to dig ourselves out of it and were beaten all over the pitch.”
Robins kept a close watch from afar but left the details to first-team coach Dennis Lawrence, who may still be in charge for the midweek game with Hull.
Lawrence said: “I would like to enjoy some Nando’s and think about Wednesday when it comes! The most important thing is we wish the gaffer a good recovery.
“The majority of preparation was done, so it was up to me to reinforce everything and the players responded.”
The visitors scored first. At 6ft 4ins, Sander Berge looms over his team-mates to put the ‘t’ into target man. When Conor Hourihane sent a cross into the area, Berge barely had to change position to head his third of the season past Simon Moore.
The response came quickly thanks to the most glorious of cross-field passes from Michael Rose, which Jack Robinson failed to intercept, and Gyokeres finished clinically.
It was man-of-the-match Gyokeres who paved the way for Coventry’s second, his shot just failing to get over the line with O’Hare mopping up.
Then Gyokeres set up O’Hare again for a left-foot finish. The Blades did not look like top-six material and Coventry are now just three points behind them.
The final blow came when Ian Maatsen put Godden through to finish.