Mark Robins ‘furious’ at Liam Kitching red card after Coventry beat Wednesday

Posted Wednesday, December 27, 2023 by PA

Coventry manager Mark Robins was left fuming with the decision to send off Liam Kitching, which took some of the shine off his side’s 2-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday.

Kitching was shown a red card after the final whistle at the Coventry Building Society Arena after referee Oliver Langford judged him to have retaliated to being pushed by Wednesday’s Bambo Diaby, who was also sent off.

That controversial incident came after two goals from Tatsuhiro Sakamoto had guided the Sky Blues to their second straight win in the festive period.

Robins said: “I didn’t see what had happened, but I’ve seen it back now and I’m appealing that.

“There’s no way he can be sent off for that, no way.

“The kid’s come from behind him and it’s assault; he’s pushed him in his face, so where does he go?

“He can’t go anywhere because he’s come into his space, so he (Diaby) has pushed him, he’s then stuck his head on his head and Kitch hasn’t reacted.

“Whether he’s put his hands up to stop it, I don’t know, but it’s an attack, it’s ridiculous and then he’s come back for seconds, so 100 per cent I’m appealing it. I’m furious.

“What happened at the end can sort of detract from a performance that was actually pretty good.

“Two brilliant goals, well worked and well finished and Tatsu’s been doing that, he’s been growing in confidence, he’s taking shots now.”

It was a slightly scuffed finish with which Sakamoto gave Coventry the lead after 20 minutes when he was picked out by Haji Wright’s cut-back.

The Japan international sealed the points in the 89th minute with a fine finish past Cameron Dawson, not long before tempers boiled over following the end of the game.

Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl said: “I think it was a fair-play game, there were not bad fouls or anything like this.

“It’s a hard decision, for both a red card after the game, but it’s the decision from the ref and we can’t change it.

“This is football but it’s not helpful for us at the moment because we’ve now got Callum (Paterson) out for the next games and Bambo out for the next games.

“I tried everything to bring some fresh legs in, but this is what our situation is at the moment, this is what we’ve been handed and it’s about preparing for our next game (at Preston), recovery and then going again.”

On his side’s performance, Rohl added: “I think you saw two different halves.

“First half, Coventry was the better team. We were not clinical in our transition in the first half, but in the second half I think we dominated the game.”