Mark Robins felt his Coventry City side were below their best but, he says, still could have won 4-2 against rock bottom Derby County.
The Sky Blues came from behind to snatch a stoppage time draw at Pride Park from the boot of star midfielder Gustavo Hamer, extending the side’s impressive unbeaten run to four games.
“I didn’t think we played brilliantly tonight,” said the City boss, speaking after the 1-1 draw that moved the club up a place to sixth from bottom, ahead of Saturday’s opponents Rotherham.
“We are going to get games that are a little bit flat and I just thought it was tonight. We didn’t move the ball as well as we can do and went a little bit long without any accuracy really.
“They have changed the way they play, with Steve McClaren coming in and guiding Wayne Rooney and the coaching staff which has changed the dynamic for them and made them a little bit more difficult to play against.
“Having said that, we could have won the game 4-2!”
Both sides had penalty appeals turned down on the night, City in the first half for a foul on Callum O’Hare and Derby in the second after Tom Lawrence was brought down by Dom Hyam.
“They have hit the bar and had a penalty shout which could well have been a penalty and we had one which was nailed on,” said Robins.
“So the referee has not made the right decision for the first one or the second one, but we said on Saturday, sometimes they give them and sometimes they don’t.”
He added: “Callum O’Hare has had a header which we should have scored from – a brilliant ball in from Ryan Giles.
“But we haven’t stopped crosses well enough today and we just looked flat. Sam McCallum has come back in and looked like he had missed a game, which clearly he has, and that can’t be right.
“There are things to be unhappy about and things to be happy about.
“But the togetherness is brilliant, the never-say-die attitude is there and the goal was brilliant. It was a great strike from Gus who kept his eye on it, and if you see the ball dropping out of the sky like that there’s only one person you want there, and it’s Gus.
“He controlled it brilliantly and was inches away from smashing a free-kick into the back of the net.
“He had one in the first half as well where he caught it well and the goalkeeper had to make a good save. We have had quite a lot of really good opportunities and not taken them, while they have been limited to a couple of efforts.
“For us it’s a decent point at the end of a tough game, so we have to accept the point and move on.
“It’s a step forward for us, we’ve been losing games and we’re four unbeaten now so we’ll take the positives and move onto Saturday where we’ve got a bit of time to recover now.”
