Coventry boss' message after his side stretch clear at top while Portsmouth remain in touching distance of second after Rotherham lose

Mark Robins demanded Coventry keep their focus after they stretchered clear at the summit of the League One table.
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The Sky Blues’ 1-0 win at free-falling Ipswich means they now have a five-point cushion at the top following second-placed Rotherham’s surprise 3-1 loss at Rochdale.

Former Pompey target Matt Godden’s 16th-minute strike proved the difference at Portman Road.

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Robins told Coventry's website: ‘The goal was magnificent, the way that we got through and passed it, it was a great through ball from Walshy (Liam Walsh) and the way that Matty moved his feet to give himself the time to finish was outstanding, it was above the level, he’s full of confidence.

‘We’ve had some illness through the week, Walshy didn’t train for a few days and you could see that we were flat, I think the journey took a bit out of our legs, thankfully we can get home and have a bit of a breather going into next week, but also work.

‘We’ve got 10 games left and we need to be better than that against the teams that we’ve got coming up, it’s been a brilliant four-game block, can we keep going and can we keep our focus and learn.

‘We just spoke, after the game, about learning and keeping learning, nobody has cracked anything, we just have to keep focused, keep in the moment and keep playing.’

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Rotherham’s loss to Rochdale means they still only sit three points ahead of Kenny Jackett’s men.

Coventry boss Mark Robins. Picture: Kieran CleevesCoventry boss Mark Robins. Picture: Kieran Cleeves
Coventry boss Mark Robins. Picture: Kieran Cleeves

Millers boss Paul Warne believes the shock reverse at Spotland is just a blip for his side.

He told Rotherham’s website: ‘We haven’t turned into a bad team overnight.

‘We’ve been amazing away from home this season but it was not our day.

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‘We are still second. We have got nine cup finals left so it may be a good kick for the lads.

‘It’s tight and it’s exciting for everyone. All the teams are looking to get to the Championship.’

Karl Robinson hailed Oxford’s composure as they propelled themselves into third in the table at Shrewsbury.

But it wasn't plain sailing for the U’s as they had to battle from two goals down to clinch a 3-2 win.

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Robinson told the Oxford Mail: ‘We’ve spoken quite a lot about being calm, regardless of what’s going on around you. I thought we kept our discipline superbly well.

‘You’ve got to give tremendous credit to Shrewsbury, in the first 20 minutes we were kicking into quite a strong wind and they overcommitted in certain areas and made it difficult for us to get near their goal.

‘But when we did get near their goal we asked the question.’

Phil Parkinson rued Sunderland's defending as they twice surrendered leads to draw 2-2 with Gillingham at the Stadium of Light.

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The Black Cats manager said: ‘It was a game we were comfortable in really but, as I said prior to the game, against Gillingham you have to defend the set-plays and the long throws, and then you have to play.

‘For the majority of the game we did that, but two moments have proved costly.

‘For the first one, we have to head the ball out of the middle of our goal.

'And for the second, we have to show more desire firstly to win the ball in the air, and then to block the shot, and if we had done that we would be sitting here talking about three points.

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‘At any level of football you have to win headers in the middle of the box and you have to show real desire, whether it’s the 96th minute or the first minute.

'It’s so disappointing because the lads put a lot of effort in today, there were some good performances and it was always going to be a tough game against Gillingham because they play a physical style but, in the main, I thought we handled it okay.’

Other results

Accrington 1-2 Tranmere, AFc Wimbletdon 0-0 Bolton, Lincoln 3-2 Burton, MK Dons 0-1 Doncaster, Southend 3-1 Bristol Rovers

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