Mark Robins hails Coventry match-winner Viktor Gyokeres

Posted Wednesday, January 26, 2022 by PA

Mark Robins heaped praise on striker Viktor Gyokeres after the striker ended his near four-month wait for a goal to earn Coventry a 1-0 win over Stoke.

The Swede, who had been without a goal since a brace in a 4-1 win against Fulham on October 2, ended his drought with an emphatic second-half strike, having seen earlier opportunities go begging.

Manager Robins said: “Viktor took his chance and he kept getting in there which I’m really proud of him for.

“It isn’t easy when you are on your own, against three defenders and not scored for a while.

“That will do him and us the world of good. He can hit them and the keeper had no chance, I’m delighted for him.

“I said to him at half-time and during the game, ‘Don’t beat yourself up, just keep getting in there, something will come’ and thankfully it did.”

The victory was the Sky Blues’ first in their last five Championship home games after they were handed an undeserved defeat at the hands of QPR on Saturday.

Robins added: “It feels better than Saturday, that’s for sure. We have been licking our wounds since Saturday and still feel aggrieved.

“But that is the best way of getting over it, the way we performed against a team that pound for pound is one of the best squads in the division.

“When we were in possession, we caused them a lot of problems and the one goal I’m delighted with and it should have been more.”

Stoke boss Michael O’Neill bemoaned fine margins as his side lost by a single goal for the 10th time in the league this season.

O’Neill said: “This league is about churning out results. That isn’t always about quality of play, it’s just about finding a way to win.

“I think every game we’ve lost bar Fulham, we’ve lost by a single goal margin. That tells us we’re not doing enough to win games and we can’t get away from that.

“We’re at the point where we win one, draw one, lose one type of scenario and we know where that leaves you in the league.”

Stoke failed to muster a shot on target as they were comfortably beaten.

O’Neill added: “It’s a poor goal for us to lose. I think there were times in the game we played some really good football, but we didn’t hurt the opposition enough when we did that.

“Ultimately, it felt like a game when there wasn’t going to be a lot in it. They created more than we did, there’s no doubt about that, and in the second half once they got ahead it looked like they had that extra bit of energy.”