Mark Robins not happy despite Coventry’s impressive victory

Posted Wednesday, October 24, 2018 by PA

Manager Mark Robins celebrated Coventry’s fourth win in a row – a richly deserved 4-2 victory at Bradford – but was not happy with his side’s performance.

It is a result that sees the Bantams sink to the foot of the Sky Bet League One table after their ninth defeat in 11 matches and fourth in a row.

To compound their misery they had striker George Miller sent off for a second yellow card after handling the ball into the net in the 88th minute – a decision disputed by Bradford head coach David Hopkin.

Robins said: “I’ve got to be happy with the result, even if the performance wasn’t great.

“We conceded two poor goals and didn’t pass the ball as well as we normally do, but we created a few chances and we’ve taken four of them away from home which is outstanding.

“I’m not trying to put a dampener on it, but I want the players to understand that to concede two goals as we have done against better teams will cost us.”

Coventry raced into a 2-0 lead after only 10 minutes. Their first goal came in the second minute when skipper Michael Doyle’s corner was headed back across goal by former Bradford loanee Jordy Hiwula and Jonson Clarke-Harris scored with a looping header just inside the far post.

Conor Chaplin scored the second direct from a 20-yard free-kick that curved around the defensive wall and just inside the near post.

Defender Anthony O’Connor pulled a goal back for Bradford in the 62nd minute, flicking the ball high into the corner of the net from Lewis O’Brien’s cross, but Coventry retaliated with two goals in five minutes to put the result beyond doubt.

Hiwula raced 30 yards down the left before cutting in to score with a low left-foot shot into the far corner for their third goal in the 65th minute and Tom Bayliss added a fourth in the 70th minute, beating O’Donnell with a neat finish.

O’Connor scored his second goal in the 78th minute with a shot from the edge of the box after Ryan McGowan’s long throw was cleared into his path, but it proved to be mere consolation for the home side.

Hopkin said of Miller’s dismissal: “I don’t know what the referee has given. George Miller has put the ball into the net with his chest. No-one complained. It was a strange decision. I thought he had given it for offside.”

But Robins said: “I think he put the ball in with his hand. The referee has done well to see that, I think.”

Hopkin, who will be without Miller and defender McGowan, who picked up his fifth booking for Saturday’s trip to Gillingham, said: “It was disappointing to go 2-0 down after only 10 minutes.

“The first goal from the corner was disappointing, but their second goal was a fantastic finish. After that I thought we played quite well and created some chances.

“When we pulled it back to 2-1 we had a chance of gaining a point, but we didn’t give ourselves a chance to build on that because they scored two more goals.

“I cannot fault the players – they are giving me everything. If we can stop conceding goals we will give ourselves a chance. At the moment we are beating ourselves.”