IT was a case of what could have been for Mark Robins and Co. on Tuesday night, following a goalless draw with Luton Town at St Andrew’s.
The Sky Blues registered a first shut-out in four games whilst extending their unbeaten run to six matches in midweek, enough to maintain their placing of 19th in the Championship table.
Chances were very much at a premium against a Luton side with grand designs of a top-half push, Tyler Walker’s instinctive strike clipping the post in the opening period and a Maxime Biamou header that whistled wide of the mark after the restart the closest that City came to a winner.
Though the Hatters perhaps should have snatched three points when James Collins volleyed over the bar from a matter of yards in the first half, a draw seemed a fair result on the balance of play – something which Robins was keen to stress post-match.
“They came and set up to make it difficult for us, that’s what they do,” said the 50-year-old.
“We were just lacking a little bit of energy, we needed to do a little bit more at the front end to try and unpick the lock.
“It was a tough game, we’ll take the point and clean sheet – it’s a good one at any level – but at this level it’s fantastic.”
The Coventry manager highlighted the need for both better finishing and higher intensity – but accepted that it was difficult to demand more of the latter after an exerted team effort in last weekend’s 3-1 victory over Rotherham United.
“If the two strikers [Biamou and Walker] had played anything like they had on Saturday, we would have won the game,” Robins added, nodding to the goalscoring contributions of the pair against the Millers.
“I wanted a little bit more in terms of output from the midfield area, [Jordan] Shipley gives me that from time-to-time, the only other consideration was to get Ryan Giles on and give us a little bit of width – but we weren’t keeping the ball well enough.”
Coventry head to Wycombe Wanderers’ Adams Park on Saturday – hoping to put clear distance between themselves and the Chairboys – before returning to home soil against Huddersfield Town on Wednesday.