Coventry boss Mark Robins: We know we could have won but a point stops the rot

Posted Thursday, September 15, 2022 by PA

Coventry boss Mark Robins was happy to stop the rot with a 2-2 draw at Luton but was disappointed his side did not come away with a first victory of the season.

The Sky Blues came from behind twice to end a run of five straight defeats in all competitions thanks to Gustavo Harmer’s stunning strike just after the hour mark.

Luton should have had a penalty with eight minutes to go, however, with Jordan Clark’s effort clearly handled by Kyle McFadzean.

Robins, who saw his side lose 5-0 at the same venue last term, said: “We played well apart from two moments. We gave them two goals and then almost a goal at the end as I’ve just seen it back and we got away with one there.

“The first goal, we should have been 1-0 up already, Vik’s (Viktor Gyokeres) got in and really he’s got to score.

“He doesn’t and then their first opportunity they stick away and we’re 1-0 down. It was shades of last year and coming on the back of it can scar you a little bit as a lot of the lads played last season.

“The results haven’t been good enough, but we’re just giving away some stupid goals.

“We’ve got to cut that out, but it’s a really good point. We know we could have won, but it stops the rot in terms of the losing streak.”

A crazy opening saw Gyokeres miss when clean through in the first minute, before Luton went in front shortly afterwards, with Carlton Morris slamming home.

The visitors levelled when Gyokeres made no mistake after outpacing Dan Potts, but Harry Cornick threaded Morris through for his second in the 15th minute.

Potts hit a post in first-half stoppage time and after the break Luton goalkeeper Ethan Horvath made a terrific save to deny Jamie Allen.

City levelled thanks to Hamer’s wonder strike just after the hour.

Hatters boss Nathan Jones was disappointed with his side’s performance and the decision from referee Andy Davies in not awarding a penalty, as he said: “We had no control in the game.

“It stemmed from our back three not being dominant enough. All four centre-forwards looked a real handful, ours and theirs, to be fair.

“We couldn’t really get on the front foot and really press, so that caused us a real issue, and every time we turned the ball over they looked a threat, so we had no control really in the game.

“We should have had a pen at the end, it’s madness, it’s bonkers, it’s just crazy how that isn’t given.

“But realistically, second half, they could have won it, we could have won it, it was too open really.”