COVENTRY CITY 0

STANLEY 0

ACCRINGTON Stanley manager John Coleman thought his side were below par in a drab goalless draw against 10-man Coventry but could still have won the game.

The Reds became only the third side this season to leave St Andrews having avoided defeat in League One but that wasn’t much consolation to Coleman.

“I know we can play miles better than that,” he said. “We had a couple of great chances in the first half and didn’t take them but we were very sloppy with our play and gave the ball away time and time again.

“We were disjointed in the first half, regrouped in the second half and I thought we were doing okay until they got the man sent off and then they upped their game and we dropped off.”

In a game of few chances and little excitement a rare flash point saw Sky Blues striker Max Biamou red carded for an elbow in the face of Stanley defender Mark Hughes.

“Ordinarily coming here you’d be happy with a point at the end of the game but when you’ve played against ten men for 25 minutes you’re disappointed because we didn’t make that count and pin them back like we know we can do,” he explained.

Stanley arrived in the West Midlands having lost their last two league matches without scoring but on the back of an emphatic midweek cup win. Coleman elected to make just one change from the last league 11 though, with Joe Pritchard coming in for Offrande Zanzala.

The hosts had won six of their eight league games at their temporary home so far and started the brighter with captain Liam Kelly forcing Dimitar Evtimov into an early save with a smart volley.

Stanley had an arguably better chance moments later when Pritchard seized on a defensive error and burst into the box only to meekly stroke a shot straight at Coventry keeper Marco Marosi.

The home supporters had been largely silenced until they began to vent their frustrations at referee Ollie Yates after wing back Sam McCallum went down in the box but no penalty decision was forthcoming.

Instead the Reds had their best spell and Colby Bishop should probably have scored with a close range header from Jerome Opoku’s cross that flew over the bar.

After the break it was a similar story, with Biamou’s early strike from a tight angle pushed out by Evtimov in a rare moment of activity for either keeper.

Biamou’s strike partner Amadou Bakayoko might have done better soon after but blazed over.

With just over 20 minutes left Mr Yates endeared himself further to the St Andrews crowd when Biamou saw red. The front man went up for an aerial challenge with Hughes, led with his arm and sent the defender sprawling. The red card swiftly followed.

The 10 men did have the ball in the net through Callum O’Hare but the play had been stopped much earlier for a foul before Stanley probably should have netted when Opoku met Sean McConville’s corner inside the six yard box but guided it wide.

Ultimately it could have been much worse for Stanley as in stoppage time O’Hare threaded in Bakayoko but his effort was repelled by a combination of Evtimov and Callum Johnson.

It was far from a match to remember but once again cause for Coleman to wonder what might have been.