Fankaty Dabo will bounce back from own goals drama – Mark Robins

Posted Sunday, September 01, 2019 by PA

Coventry boss Mark Robins says he is sure defender Fankaty Dabo will bounce back from the unusual feat of scoring two own goals in a dramatic 3-3 draw at Oxford.

The Sky Blues led 2-0 through a free-kick by Zain Westbrooke and Matty Godden’s header on the break from Dabo’s cross.

But they were pegged back to 2-2 when Jamie Mackie struck and then Dabo turned Chris Cadden’s right-wing cross into his own net.

Robins thought his men had snatched the three points when substitute Callum O’Hare scored in stoppage time – only for Dabo to put into his own net again in the fourth minute of stoppage time from Tariqe Fosu’s cut-back.

Robins said: “Unfortunately, I think Fankaty’s ended with a brace for Oxford. It won’t be a memory that he wants to keep, but he’ll deal with it.

“He actually showed a good response from the first own goal.

“He’ll come back from this, he’s a player who’s making his way in the game. Hopefully he’ll get himself in better positions to deal with crosses next time.”

Coventry stay unbeaten in League One, but Robins was not enamoured by the performance.

He added: “I’m relieved with a point because I thought we were poor. The way they play stretches you but we were our own worst enemy. We’ve got to learn.

“There are players in our team who are naive, but we can learn from this game, probably better than from any game this season.

“The goals we scored were good goals and when we scored the third goal, I honestly thought we’d won the game.

“But we had some tired legs out there, and we looked on our feet in certain areas.

“To come away unbeaten in a month when we’ve had eight games, is something we can be proud of.”

U’s boss Karl Robinson said: “It’s just gutting that we finished with only one point today.

“We can’t keep making mistakes, but they’re young. My players have given everything today.

“Our fans have tremendous belief in their team, and so do the players. We never write ourselves off.”

It was the second home game running that Oxford had recovered from two goals down late in the second half, after their midweek Carabao Cup win over Millwall.

Robinson said: “Coventry are the best passing team in the league and yet we had 70 per cent possession against them, according to some stats.

“But our two midfield players switched off and their players ran through.

“We were a threat at corners and everything we worked on, in getting more quality crosses into the box, we did.

“James Henry showed tremendous desire and Chris Cadden showed what a good signing he is with his crosses.

“We’ve got to make sure, though, that we turn these fantastic performances into good results.”