Sky Blues boss admits Coventry 'got away with one' as referee fails to award Luton a clear spot-kick in Kenilworth Road draw

City chief impressed by his side’s performance during 2-2 draw
Town defender James Bree gets stuck in against Coventry last nightTown defender James Bree gets stuck in against Coventry last night
Town defender James Bree gets stuck in against Coventry last night

Coventry City manager Mark Robins admitted that his side ‘got away with one’ during their 2-2 draw at Luton Town last night, when referee Andy Davies failed to award a clear penalty to the hosts in the closing stages of the contest.

With the scores locked at 2-2 after the Sky Blues, who had gone into the fixture on the back of four straight league defeats, had twice hit back to level, Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer’s stunner cancelling out Carlton Morris’s fourth and fifth goals for Luton, the real talking point came with eight minutes to go.

Home midfielder Jordan Clark got free inside the area and when shooting goalwards, saw visiting defender Kyle McFadzean threw himself in front of the ball, clearly parrying it behind with his outstretched hands.

However, official Davies somehow opted to only award a corner, enraging both the home players and entire bench, with boss Nathan Jones condemning the decision afterwards as ‘bonkers’ and ‘crazy’.

Robins, whose side, beaten 5-0 at the same venue last term, had deserved at least a point from the encounter, creating some excellent chances throughout, with Gyokeres in particular a real menace, was honest enough to admit it should have been a spot-kick.

He said: “I’m really proud to start off.

“We played well apart from two moments, as we gave them two goals and then almost a goal at the end as I’ve just seen it back and we got away with one there, fortunate, fortunate.

“The first goal, we should have been 1-0 up already, it’s a brilliant pass over the top, lifted it behind, Vik’s (Viktor Gyokeres) got in and really he's got to score.

“He doesn't and then their first opportunity they stick away and we’re 1-0 down, shades of last year.

"Coming on the back of it can scar you a little bit as a lot of the lads played last season.

“But it was a case of making sure we didn't go under as we put in a lot of work on the training ground, knowing what these throw at you and the way they put you under pressure and how they do it, trying to take some of the pressure off ourselves.

“The results haven’t been good enough but the performances have been okay, we’re just giving away some stupid goals.

"We’ve got to cut that out, but the way that they handled the game was a real plus and that’s why I’m proud of them as we scored two brilliant goals and had other chances.

“There was the chance at the end which Fadz has got his body in front of, lets say, so it’s a really good point.

“We know we could have won, but it stops the rot in terms of the losing streak.”

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