What pleased Mark Robins the most about Coventry City’s draw with Southampton

Coventry City match reaction from CoventryLive as Sky Blues manager delivers verdict on 1-1 draw with high-flying Saints.

Mark Robins believes his Coventry City players can take heart from a “decent point” against promotion contenders Southampton. The Sky Blues were frustrated by the Saints’ dominant possession in the first half at the CBS Arena, but they went ahead after the break thanks to a fine Haji Wright goal, his sixth of the season, before conceding a disappointing equaliser.

“I thought they had more of the possession in the first half but they are a quality team with top, top players throughout the squad,” said the City boss, reflecting on the 1-1 Championship draw against a Saints’ side that extended their unbeaten run to 13 matches.

“But I thought we were pretty good and worked really hard out of possession. And, really, they didn’t have many chances in the first half and there was very little between the two teams in terms of chances, but we had one or two bits where I thought we could cause them some problems.

“At half time we spoke about keeping the ball a bit more because when we got it back we were a little bit too quick to try to get through them and fashion a chance, but when you do that against such quality they pick it up again and picking you off, so you spend a lot of time out of possession. But in the second half we did it a lot better and started to use the ball better, got some chances, got the goal.

“It was a brilliant goal. It was really pleasing because Haji got himself into a really good position. The passing was good and he took an extra touch to open himself up to finish really well. And you can see him growing in confidence, as you can with Ellis who is working his way into that and really just needs a goal.

“But I think there was some really good play in and out of possession in the second half and the goal we conceded was just… I mean, we have had some really good performances but if we had too many touches and they turn it over then they are in positions where it means they can hurt you because you’re out of position, and that’s what happened.

“And then they’re in decent spaces. They had a shot, hit it into the ground and if he’d have hit it cleanly it might have hit Jake Bidwell, but it either went under or through him and into the net. That’s the only blemish on the performance. Other than that I thought we were really good and it will give them a load of confidence.

“It’s a decent point. It’s four points from two home games and two difficult games at that, but I think you can see us growing in confidence and stature, and that’s pleasing.”

In other news, Mark Robins now has an exciting Coventry City weapon that has the potential to spark a serious play-off push