TONY Mowbray admits his side simply were not good enough after the Sky Blues slipped to their second defeat of the season away at Scunthorpe United on Saturday.
Paddy Madden scored the only goal of the game for the hosts ten minutes from time in a match that saw former Sky Blues players Gary McSheffrey and Jordan Clarke get one over on their former club.
It was a poor performance from the Sky Blues who could only muster three attempts on goal, none of which were on target despite in-form striker Adam Armstrong returning to action.
And Mowbray wants his young side to bounce back when they hosts Chesterfield at the Ricoh Arena this Saturday.
“It’s a disappointing day, especially in terms of the result,” said Mowbray. “I thought we were okay outside of possession and defended pretty well.
“It should have been a 0-0 really. If you were paying your money to watch that, it isn’t really a spectacle. I didn’t feel over-threatened by them in the same.
“They changed their shape and changed their formation, and worked very hard. They pressed us high up the pitch and made every effort to stop us playing football.
“With the ball, we weren’t good enough. We’ve got to adapt better when teams try and work us out. If it was 0-0, we’d have been disappointed but to come away with nothing is frustrating.”
Mowbray confirmed after Saturday’s match that midfielder Jim O’Brien missed the game through illness and he also said debutant Ryan Kent will continue to improve the more he plays.
He added: “During the season, you’ve got to play without certain players at times. Ultimately, there were too many under par and when your players are under par, you get results like that.
“You’ve got to judge young footballers over the course of a season. You can see that Ryan has got huge talent and an exciting prospect.
“But, he’s got to learn about how we play and the demands we put on him. That can be said for all our young footballers really and they will be judged by their consistency.”
