Robins not happy with Sky Blues despite win
MARK Robins was left disappointed by Coventry’s performance against Stevenage despite coming away with an important victory that maintains their promotion push.
The crowd at the Ricoh Arena were on their feet inside two minutes as Marc McNulty’s screamer put the home side ahead, with the same man doubling the lead four minutes later.
Stevenage responded through Alex Revell but Liam Kelly made it 3-1 just before the break.
There was still time for Stevenage’s Luke Wilkinson to see red before the half was out, with Robins annoyed that his team didn’t kill the game off.
“It was a fantastic start,” said the Coventry manager. “We got a goal from a set-play again which was pleasing.
“Then all of a sudden we inexplicably give them a chance and a sniff which I was furious about.
“We seemed to sit on our laurels a little bit and that’s not what we were looking for in terms of finishing the game off.”
The Sky Blues now face promotion rivals Lincoln on Tuesday, with Robins expecting a tough encounter.
“My attention turns to the game on Tuesday and we’ve spoken about it now because it’s a different kettle of fish,” he added.
McNulty’s first strike came from 30 yards out but four minutes later the same man finished from much closer range as he nudged home his 20th league goal of the season from Jordan Willis’ knock-down.
The visitors’ response came through Revell as he smashed the ball home following a Sky Blues defensive mix-up.
The hosts’ third goal came on 37 minutes as Kelly arrowed in a shot from outside the box after Jordan Shipley’s pass.
Any hopes Stevenage had of getting back into the game were dealt a blow three minutes later as Wilkinson received a straight red following a bad challenge on McNulty – with Boro boss Dino Maamria taking the positives from Revell’s goal.
“You can’t come to a place like Coventry, gift them two goals like that and expect something out of the game because it’s going to be very difficult,” said Maamria.
“That’s our fourth goal now from the last three or four games where we pressed from the front and have scored off the back of it.
“Against Barnet we scored like that and today we scored pressing from the front, that’s the type of football I want, so that’s a positive I’d take from the game.”