SKY Blues boss Steven Pressley has described being knocked out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle by non-league side Worcester City as one of the worst moments in the club’s proud history.
Two goals from Sean Geddes had given the Conference North side a shock 2-0 lead in the First Round against the hosts who had been reduced to ten men following goalkeeper Lee Burge’s early dismissal.
Skipper Reda Johnson, who missed a first half penalty, pulled one back for the hosts with ten minutes remaining.
But the Sky Blues failed to find an equaliser and Pressley admits it is not acceptable to lose out to a team who sit 63 places below them.
“It was embarrassing and I said that to the group,” said Pressley.
“I was extremely embarrassed. If you look at the history of this proud club, this defeat really ranks as one of the worst, or the worst.
“We’re all responsible for that, we are all bitterly disappointed. We really didn’t play well enough to get a result and congratulations to Worcester City .
“Again, it is an embarrassing defeat for us but we have to show our resilience and our character to get back and restore our pride over the coming months.”
The game changed shortly before half-time when a moment of madness from Burge saw him kick out at Worcester striker Daniel Nti and he was deservedly shown a straight red card.
That allowed Worcester to go ahead and the Sky Blues struggled in the second period with only ten men.
Pressley labelled Burge’s actions as ‘inexcusable’ and said he will be speaking to the goalkeeper this week.
he added: “One of the things I said before the game was don’t get involved in an provocation don’t give the referee an excuse.
“We weren’t playing particularly well at the time, but we were still in a situation where as the game grew our quality could shine through.
“Then we are down to ten-men, we immediately lose a goal and I’m bitterly disappointed with Lee.
“I know he is a young goalkeeper but it is a massive learning curve. When he was impeded his action was not acceptable. He apologised to the players afterwards but we’re still very disappointed.”
