Coventry City were unable to build on their victory at the weekend as they fell to a disappointing 2-0 defeat to an in-form Cardiff City side.

Mark Robins' side would have been hopeful of another three points on the road following an impressive victory against Reading on Saturday afternoon - but lacked the necessary attacking firepower on this occasion to take anything back to the Midlands.

The visitors succumbed late in the game with Joel Bagan's curling effort leaving Simon Moore with no chance in the Coventry goal - and Mark Harris doubled their lead when he cut inside and fired the ball into the corner as the Bluebirds all but sealed their survival.

 

 

For the Sky Blues, it's another blow to their promotion hopes and they will be hoping for a quick response when they face Barnsley on Saturday, though that won't be an easy tie with Poya Asbaghi's men buoyed from their 1-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers last weekend.

Anything less than three points would be seen as a real disappointment, especially as they return to the Coventry Building Society Arena.

But focusing more specifically on yesterday, we discuss three things we clearly learnt about the Midlands outfit following their clash in Wales.

Two up top is needed

Although they were clinical at the weekend, there were signs that Viktor Gyokeres needed a partner alongside him to make a real difference and he looked isolated again yesterday evening.

Robins had limited options though with Matt Godden still not back in the matchday squad, though Martyn Waghorn was an option with the ex-Derby man coming off the bench.

Callum O’Hare has already shown this season that he can take on a lone advanced midfield role and with Gustavo Hamer (when available) also able to create from a deeper midfield position, playing two up top has to be worth utilising from the start in a bid to turn around their fortunes.

It certainly brought them success earlier in the campaign, though it remains to be seen whether the Sky Blues’ manager is willing to sacrifice Ian Maatsen or another advanced midfielder to play a 3-4-1-2, or Jake Bidwell to install Maatsen at left-wing back.

Having Gyokeres and Waghorn as a partnership with Godden available as a bench option is an exciting prospect and with little to lose and Fabio Tavares at their disposal, making a system switch seems like a no-brainer.

They are now play-off outsiders

This may seem harsh considering they are only five points adrift of the top six - but against a side that are still at the lower end of the table - this was the sort of game they needed to win if they were to establish themselves as genuine promotion contenders once more.

After starting the campaign so brightly, they will be slightly disappointed with their current predicament but considering they were plying their trade in the third tier during the 2019/20 campaign, ensuring they have the building blocks in place to be a Championship club for the long term has to be the priority.

This is exactly what they have after remaining afloat in the second tier last term - and managed to build on that this term with a strong start.

For now though, they aren't consistent enough to force their way into the top six and with the likes of Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United all looking strong alongside others, a finish in mid-table is looking more and more likely.

You can't write them off - but their away form hasn't been good enough and last night reinforced that.

They have a wing-back dilemma on their hands

Bidwell didn't exactly perform to his maximum in the Welsh capital and this is why there's currently a debate on social media brewing about who starts on the left-hand side ahead of their next match this weekend.

This may open up a spot for Maatsen who didn't deserve to be dropped to the bench, although he did look slightly vulnerable coming up against Yakou Meite at the Select Car Leasing Stadium last Saturday, with the Dutchman clearly as his best when going forward.

Weighing up these pros and cons of using either will make Robins' selection choices against the Tykes an interesting one - and a similar debate could be had on the right-hand side with two clear first-team options in Todd Kane and Fankaty Dabo.

The latter has recently returned to training and with Kane a reliable option to have in this division, this will give Coventry's boss a real selection headache.

Experimenting may be the best way of determining who's best for the starting spots on either side, although stability and consistency in terms of personnel may also be important.