Coventry City manager Tony Mowbray said there were no excuses after his side's 3-0 defeat at Southend United.
“We struggled from the start really so there’s no excuses,” said the City boss to the Coventry Telegraph.
"We got beaten by a very resilient team who dug in and didn’t give us a minute on the ball.
“We had 100 shots but most of them were from outside the box and got blocked – I can’t remember too many clear-cut chances.
“Every team has bad periods in the course of a season but you have to come out of that, stick together as a team.
“The individuals in the dressing room have done fantastically well to get where we are so we have to show some resolve and determination to keep that going.”
"We got beaten by a very resilient team who dug in and didn’t give us a minute on the ball.
“We had 100 shots but most of them were from outside the box and got blocked – I can’t remember too many clear-cut chances.
“Every team has bad periods in the course of a season but you have to come out of that, stick together as a team.
“The individuals in the dressing room have done fantastically well to get where we are so we have to show some resolve and determination to keep that going.”
Speaking about the injuries to Adam Armstrong and Jacob Murphy, Mowbray said; “Adam and Jacob tried training yesterday but the decision was made that they weren’t fit enough to play which was obviously a blow alongside John Fleck’s suspension.
"But we had a very experienced team out there so it was a very disappointing performance.
“The question was Joe Cole or James Maddison really and we opted for Cole today.
"If you’re going to play Marcus Tudgay you need people who can get the ball in from wide but he picked up an injury in the first half so we had to change things around.”
"But we had a very experienced team out there so it was a very disappointing performance.
“The question was Joe Cole or James Maddison really and we opted for Cole today.
"If you’re going to play Marcus Tudgay you need people who can get the ball in from wide but he picked up an injury in the first half so we had to change things around.”