Mark Robins sees progress at Coventry after Accrington draw

Posted Sunday, November 04, 2018 by PA

Coventry manager Mark Robins believes he can see progress in his side after Michael Doyle rescued a late point for the Sky Blues against Accrington.

Doyle tapped in from close range in the 87th minute to claim a 1-1 for Robins’ men after Offande Zanzala had given the visitors the lead in the 57th minute.

And Robins was pleased his side secured a point, having lost both matches against Stanley last season.

“That is more than we gained from them last season and that’s progress for us. We could have gone on and snatched it but I think a draws about right,” he said.

“It would have been nice to have won and I think we could have won. We were OK without being our usual and you have to give them credit for that.

“We haven’t moved the ball properly enough. We’ve defended OK. A result I can live with and a point more than we got last season against Accrington.

“Lee Burge made a good save at the end but we’ve not tested the keeper enough. First-half we were better, then they started the second half brightly and we finished off strong.”

Robins also praised the performance of Jordon Thompson, who made his first league start of his career.

“I thought Jordan Thompson did OK, they didn’t cause him any problems,” he added.

“I thought he dealt with things pretty well, he’s a centre-half really.”

Burge was called into action deep into second-half added time by Jordan Clark and Stanley manager John Coleman was impressed with his team’s character after conceding.

“What I will say about the character of our lads is that if a team comes here and concedes in the 88th minute, they’ll play for the draw, we went up and made two good chances,” he said.

“I can’t fault the players, they were fanatastic second-half. First-half I felt both teams cancelled each other out, there was no real creativity.

“Offande could have had more. At the end he’s tried to pass Connor in when i think he’d have been better off shooting, and then Jordan’s missed a chance right at the death.

“He believes he can score. We spoke to him at half-time and said he has to be more ruthless and forceful, he’s got to get his body in and read the play better and he did in the second-half.”