Mark Robins proud as punch after Coventry see off Bristol Rovers

Coventry boss Mark Robins described the 2-1 victory over Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium as “a magnificent three points” for his team.

While Robins was far from impressed with some aspects of his side’s performance, he was delighted to see them come from behind after old boy Jonson Clarke-Harris had given Rovers a 23rd-minute lead.

Bristol City loanee Liam Walsh made the equaliser for Jamie Allen in the 38th minute with a superb through ball and hit the winner himself in first-half added-time to cap a man-of-the-match display.

Robins said: “This is always a tough place to visit and conditions today were awful, so it’s a magnificent three points for us.

“You can see the work Ben Garner is doing with Bristol Rovers and the fact that we also faced them twice in the FA Cup this season didn’t make it any easier for us.

“Again we have gifted them a lead. I thought our goalkeeper was coming to get the ball when it was played through, but we should still have dealt with it and then Jonson has put it through the keeper’s legs from a narrow angle.

“We have gone on to win with two outstanding goals that didn’t really fit in with the game as a whole.

“The pass and movement for the first was tremendous and I was right behind Liam’s shot for the second so I could see their goalkeeper was never going to get near it.”

Clarke-Harris capitalised on a breakdown in communication between goalkeeper Marko Marosi and Kyle McFadzean to open the scoring and Rovers boss Garner was delighted to see the January window closed without his top-scorer leaving.

He said: “While there was some late interest in Jonson, no one came up with a firm bid. We did some good business over the course of the month, but I’m glad it is over.

“There were a lot of positives again today, but I am fed up with saying that without being able to talk about a win.

“For half an hour we were brilliant, but we have to start turning that into a 90-minute performance.

“It didn’t help that decisions went against us. I thought one of Coventry’s experienced players ran the game better than the referee and was lucky not to concede a penalty in the second half.

“Things haven’t been going our way. We could have been three up at Bolton in midweek and ended up having to settle for a point.

“Now we have a free week to prepare for our next game and I am looking forward to putting in a lot of hard work on the training ground.”