COVENTRY City manager Russell Slade says he ‘didn’t see it coming’ after a 3-1 defeat in a relegation six-pointer against Swindon Town.
He also hinted at making changes for Tuesday night’s away fixture at Bury.
He said: “I didn’t see it coming. We had the best training since I’ve been here.
“In terms of our prep and asking questions of myself and everybody else, we got that right.
“We talked about Ajose. He proved to be the difference between the two sides.
“There was nothing in it before the goals. Two goals make it really difficult for us.
“In terms of seconds balls we weren’t getting close enough to them. The second period was better. We were doing that. But we were 2-0 down.
“The first goal was always going to be important in a relegation fight like that. We’re very disappointed how we conceded those two goals. I didn’t really see it coming and it’s disappointing.
“There is a good League One performance in all of them. There’s probably a Championship performance in most of them.
“But it’s about performing consistently every week. There’s a lack of consistency. It has been an issue all season.
“It’s a really disappointing performance from our point of view.
“We have to move on. We have a big game on Tuesday. We have to dust ourselves down. That was poor.
“It might mean we make a few changes on Tuesday. It’s consistency we’re looking for. It’s not a part-time thing.”
Asked if avoiding relegation was still possible, he said: “You wouldn’t think it was possible today but coming off from Gillingham you’d think we have a chance.”
He said Ajose was a player he had at Charlton who got the service he needs in the box today but Slade added: “We didn’t mark him and that’s disappointing.
“On Tuesday we’ll have to consider changes. We’ll wipe the slate clean again and try to find a way of winning a football match.”