Westley - Huge Missed Opportunity

Last updated : 27 March 2014 By Covsupport News Service

Stevenage Manager Graham Westley has described his side's 1-0 defeat against Coventry City on Wednesday night as 'a missed opportunity'.

"It’s a huge missed opportunity as we could have gone 19th with the three points but the benefit from our point of view is that we knew going into the game we had four or five wins that we have to get,” Westley said to Comet 24

“Steve said to me at the end ‘your team were excellent out there’, and I think they were.

“I think we were the better side in terms of possession and quality in possession, the better side in terms of chances, clinicality – they’ve scored from a set piece and we’ve missed several good chances over the 90 none more so than the one just before half-time where [Jordan Burrow and Luke Freeman] have had a bite at it and the goalkeeper wrong-footed but got a foot to it.

“It is a disappointing result for us but I thought the performance showed a lot of grit, a lot of courage. The boys were prepared to get the ball down and work the ball. In the final third [Coventry] had backs to the wall, defended their goal very well and their keeper made a great save late on to touch Luke’s shot on to the bar.

“I didn’t feel under serious pressure throughout the 90 minutes. You know a side with the quality they have in their squad isn’t going to let you have it all your way but Francois [Zoko] could have put us ahead on three minutes [but his] header hit the post.

“We kept pressing, we kept pushing and I think at half-time they would have been glad to have been 0-0.

“Second half I thought it was very much one-way traffic. My neck is very sore from looking away to my right and I didn’t really go to my left [the direction Coventry City were attacking] that often.

“Obviously in the end they’ve scored the goal and missed the penalty, but there wasn’t really a lot going on. Steve Arnold had a very quiet night.”

More on this: http://www.thecomet.net/stevenage-fc/coventry_defeat_is_an_opportunity_missed_says_stevenage_boss_1_3489777