Coventry City take 'blame' after magnificent display at Watford

Coventry City manager Mark Robins during the Sky Bet Championship match at Watford.
-Credit: (Image: Steven Paston)


Mark Robins hailed his Coventry City side as “magnificent” but admitted that his players should have won the game by four or five goals at Vicarage Road.

Ellis Simms gave the Sky Blues a fourth minute lead against Watford and the manager concedes that the game should have been out of sight by the break, after which the Hornets battled back to draw 1-1 before Haji Wright missed a glorious late chance to snatch the full three points when he headed onto the far post from close range.

“From minute one we were really good, and these are a good team – a different animal from last year,” said Robins, after an entertaining 1-1 away draw. “They are running and working hard, and have quality in their ranks, as they always have.

READ MORE: Coventry City player ratings v Watford

READ MORE: Watford v Coventry City Live updates

“We managed to get on top in the game, played some brilliant football and created some good chances but just didn’t take them. I think we took the hardest chance of the game and missed the others, and we can only blame ourselves for not getting the three points because it should have been over by half-time, way over by half-time.

“And when they are still at 1-0 they always have the chance of coming back into it and that’s what they did. But, again, we have some really talented players in our midst and it’s down to them. They worked really hard last week and took it into the game today. We tired in certain areas which gave them an advantage in certain areas of the pitch.

“We wanted to make changes but didn’t want to put players into positions that were foreign to them. It’s just one of those things where we need the players back fit because they’re in key positions and that gives us another string to our bow.

“But if you can’t win, don’t lose, and thankfully we didn’t lose but we were magnificent today. I think we can be disappointed that we didn’t get four or five.”

As for Haji Wright’s late header onto the post to win the game, he added: “He’s got to score from there.”

Do you agree with the manager's assessment? Click HERE to have your say.