RUSSELL Slade has said his side must continue to work hard while they can following a goalless draw against Shrewsbury.
Slade was left with just one substitution to use throughout the game after Kevin Foley was scratched from the initial starting XI when tweaking a slight hamstring injury during the warm-up.
Minutes into the game midfielder Andy Rose needed replacing when he suffered a head injury after colliding with team mate Nathan Clarke in the box.
Despite the early set-back, Coventry battled hard on pitch and were the stronger side throughout the 90 minutes – though they failed to find a way past Town keeper Jayson Leutwiler.
After the game, Slade said avoiding relegation is a huge task, though his side must continue working while they can.
He added: “I’m pleased with the clean sheet. You can’t build on results if you’re conceding goals. We created opportunities throughout the game.
“I’m not sure how the ball stayed out of the net when it was bouncing around the box. We have to settle for the draw and keep going.
“Throughout the whole game I thought we had decent momentum and moved the ball well into dangerous areas.
“We worked on Friday and they were made aware of what was required in midfield.
“Dion (Kelly-Evans) was tenacious today and played well in the one on one situations.
“The first ten minutes were were exposed a couple of times but overall we dealt well with situations.
“The fans were great today. They know the situation we’re in. They were terrific. Myself and the players went over to thank them after the game.”
The extent of Andy Rose’s injury is currently unknown, though it’s not as bad as first feared as the 27-year-old returned to the ground before the final whistle.
Slade said: “We’re hoping he’s okay. We’ll get medical reports when we can. As we know he was down on the pitch for a long time as we were waiting for a proper trolley to take him away.
“He was out cold at one stage. He got a nudge and went into Nathan (Clarke) and hit him with the side of his head.”
