Boss Roy Keane bemoaned his side’s lack of goals after losing 2-1 at home to Coventry City. The Blues manager was disappointed with his team’s first half display but felt they improved after the break.

Keane said: “I think we had enough good attacking play, particularly in the second half, but we’ve not been scoring enough goals and that was the case today.

“If you score one at home you think you’ve a chance of at least getting a point. You can talk about possession but we gave two very bad goals away and we gave ourselves a mountain to climb and we weren’t quite able to do it.

“We gave ourselves a chance by getting back into it so quickly with Jason, but the first half was poor and we should do better.”

The Town manager thought his team were well under par before the break: “I was pleased to go in at 1-0 at half-time. We couldn’t have been any worse and we weren’t, but then to give the penalty away.

“The penalty was a bad goal, a really bad goal to give away. When you think of the progress we’re trying to make, just to give away a penalty like that is criminal really.”

Keane feels his side made poor decisions in and around the area: “Possession won’t win you football matches, but we got into good areas in the second half, wide positions on the edge of the box where you need to be inventive.

“I thought we were a bit on our heels today, we were waiting for things to happen rather than making it happen.

“We just need that bit of quality sometimes, someone with that bit of composure when it drops to them to think ‘this is the right decision, this is the right pass’. Today we picked the wrong one too many times.”

Keane says full-back Mark Kennedy is unlikely to play at Watford on Tuesday after suffering another hamstring injury in the closing stages.

Coventry boss Aidy Boothroyd was delighted with his side’s first win at Portman Road since 1994: “It was tough, any game in the Championship is difficult, but coming here is very, very hard because they’re a good side and they’re where they are for a reason. It was a difficult game today.”

The one-time Colchester manager was in little doubt that Lukas Jutkiewicz‘s first half strike crossed the line: “I thought we were the better team in the first half. The ‘goal’ from Lukas is a goal but obviously the referee doesn’t have the benefit of goal-line technology, so it’s my turn again to complain about that and say we should have it. But you have to get on with it and you can’t blame referees.

“The first half we created a lot of chances, I thought we put them under a lot of pressure, but in the second half I thought they came out the better team and, although we hit the post, it was a fight for your life, defend for your life job. You have to do that in the Championship, and we did it really well.”

Photo: Action Images

tallguy6767 added 13:36 - Oct 17 KEANE BEMOANS LACK OF GOALS! WELL LETS START PLAYING WITH 2 STRIKERS THEN!!!!
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RetroBlue added 13:51 - Oct 17 I fail to see how Priskin can be accused of being "goal shy" - poor sod sits on the bloody bench for every game getting a few minutes in the second half. Play TWO strikers for 90 mins Keane, then you might get some more goals...or maybe the midfielders need to buck their ideas up. Edwards and Townsend need to get into the box as well as get the ball into the box more ofeten. Neither of these two factors happen enough. Poor old Scotland is left to hold the ball up (for "who", exactly to feed it off to?) , only to have to pass to himself, and then get his arse in the box to receive his own pass, to have a shot on goal. Not many goals then, hmmm wonder why, Roy ??

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bluelady added 14:00 - Oct 17 One up front is a disgrace, I knew we'd struggle as soon as I heard the teams! I agree with many on here two up front with scotland and prisken. People moaning about prisken but the lad has hardly played yet got three goals only one less than scotland who has had far more time on the pitch!
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oH_bluey added 14:25 - Oct 17 I'm happy about the return of Colback but do we need another midfielder? Scotlands doing his best but how hard can it be to find a striker! Even Derby are scoring goals...
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WeWereZombies added 14:28 - Oct 17 I don't think yesterday was a bad game, we just have to accept that Coventry were the better team (maybe only because they have the better manager at the moment). It was fairly end to end without much route one. There were events and incidents (no idea whether the ball crossed the line after it hit the bar late in the first half, my heart was in my mouth and I crossed my fingers despite being just a few yards away from it - I think we were lucky then but the penalty decision evened it up - too far away for me to tell, really). Full marks to the 529 Coventry support for making a noise, half marks for the content. Wickham looked very static when he came on but later in the game he did chase the ball well, however both he and Scotland reminded me of the complaint we used to have about Darren Bent - what use is it if your strikers are winning possession on the wing if there is no one in the centre to cross to!

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firmfoundations added 14:36 - Oct 17 Taken my time to try and calm down after yesterdays debacle. One person to blame. Keane. Said he was not right for Town when he was appointed and nothing I have seen since has convinced me I was wrong. He is an incompetent manager. As many have said we lack strikers, we lack tactics (one up front at home), we lack the ability to change formation and tactics during the game, cant attract quality players or maybe Clegg's involvement is that he and Evans talk about ambition but do not have any. What price no points from our next two games? I am not being defeatist just realsitic. I continue to support the team on the pitch but whilst we have Keane and Clegg we will do nothing.

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alfromcol added 14:39 - Oct 17 Why wasn't captain Norris on the field at the start?? Any views??
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meekreech added 14:54 - Oct 17 Wewerezombies I do not think you were at the same game as me yesterday ! Coventry only looked good because we allowed them to ! The penalty was in front of me and there was no contact the guy fell over his own feet !!! So much for referees being better because they are now professional ( ? ) . The referee yesterday was a complete disgrace and ruined a poor game with his attitude and manner . He was no better yesterday than he was at Exeter , probably worse , and should not be allowed to ref until he can use better judgement in close situations because he missed 2 blatant fouls in the penalty area and 2 plainly seen handballs which if he had been more alert he would have seen and punished ! The 2 blatant fouls involved more contact than in the penalty decision and were less than 10 yards from him where the ref was at least 20 yards away from the incident for which he awarded the penalty . As for Coventry being the better team that was shown to be nonsense as soon as we started to play the ball on the ground and not in the air !

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RetroBlue added 15:20 - Oct 17 amazing what having TWO strikers on the park at the same time can do isnt it ! Shame we always have to wait until we are losing , and into the 2nd half, before Roy decides to use this very effective combination !!
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NSL added 15:27 - Oct 17 On the point regarding the Kick Off - Winning the toss is not about who kicks off first, it is about giving the winner choice of ends. The losing team then gets to kick off. Leadbitter must have chosen to attach the North Stand for the first half.
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bluearmy4life added 16:40 - Oct 17 I have to disagree with all the comments about Priskin. He was poor last season for sure but this season has shown at times some good promise. At the end of the day he is playing for town so support him instead of saying his useless. In my OP he needs a good run out then we can judge him after the performances.
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Upbeat~ added 17:02 - Oct 17 Yesterday we lost in a very disappointing game of football. Keane's tactics were wrong and we looked like a mediocre championship side. However, such results and performances are commonplace in all playoff teams come the end of the season. If we consistently played at our best then we would currently be occupying QPR's position - as it happens we're 6th (hello people, 6th - the table doesn't lie remember!). Eveyone should stop throwing their toys out of the pram whenever we lose as we're not Chelsea after all. At this stage of the season we are in my opinion where we need to be - freeze the table now and seriously try to convince me that you wouldn't be happy if the games played column read 46. Roll on Tuesday and hopefully a good victory against Watford. COYB

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Wickets added 18:34 - Oct 17 Yes NSL you state the obvious, my point is if Coventry kicked off presumably we had the chance to play as we always have done, when we have had the chance towards the North stand second half, why have we decided to relinquish the advantage of attacking the vocal support end second half?
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SurreyITFC added 18:48 - Oct 17 Hopefully Priskin will start on Tuesday and get a goal against his old employers. He certainly needs a run of games to get his match fitness up and get his confidence going and then I feel we will start seeing the best of him. COYB
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kipper added 19:16 - Oct 17 Reference the kick off. Leadbitter presumably won the toss and chose to change ends. He made exactly the same decision against Leeds which I agree seems very strange. I am also really surprised that anyone could possibly think yesterday was not a bad game. The football we are playing at the moment is terrible. When we do keep the ball on the floor we look capable, trouble is this only happens for short spells. Anyone who watches football knows that an Aidy Boothroyd team will be big, physical, play long ball, be good from set pieces and also stretch the laws of the game to the extreme (some would call this cheating such as clipping your own heels when in the penalty area). So with this in mind we decide to play long ball also with just one up front who I believe is 5 foot 9, great plan. Hopefully things will improve in the next 7 days however if we go into the Millwall game on the back of 3 league defeats then the pressure may just start to grow on the management team.

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apm_77 added 19:43 - Oct 17 I'm a Keane fan but he's living in another world if he thinks we can win home matches consistantly by only playing one striker at Portman Road. We have to play two up front, sides sitting back will simply snuff out any threat from Scotland unless he has Priskin or Wickham alongside him. Away from home, fine, play the 4-5-1 system, stop sides playing and keep tight, but at home matches have got to represent 3 points gained, especially against the likes of Coventry.

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Acen added 20:11 - Oct 17 .
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Ipswich24 added 08:31 - Oct 18 Keano get jason roberts in now
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bluelady added 09:23 - Oct 18 just listened to Keane on match review, he wont start 2 up front. he basically thinks that by tightening up, grabbing the odd goal we will win. personally i would prefer to see us open up, score a hatfull and have a few scored against us, at least that way i feel i have had my monies worth! Playing defence negative football is not going to win too many games nor is it going to sell tickets. I want Keane to succeed, i think we have a great squad which at times looked brilliant, we just need to get the tactics right and come out first half with the view to scoring as many goals as we can,NOT preventing the opposition scoring in the hope we can sneak one.

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JTL279 added 10:48 - Oct 18 1 up front at home against a side like Coventry is not a good message to the fans. It's alright if you win but even then it's not really the entertainment we are all seeking. Coventry were there for the taking, we just didn't look like a team that could do it. Scotland can hold the ball up but too few from Midfield coming through to benefit.
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kipper added 12:41 - Oct 18 Bluelady - Couldn't agree more. I cannot remember being as bored at ITFC games. Yes we all want to win obviously but we also want to be entertained. We have the players to do this in Townsend, Edwards, Peters, Livermore etc but I do not think that they are being allowed to play at the moment. As someone behind me said on Saturday - just think what Tony Mowbray could do with this lot !

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Help added 13:16 - Oct 18 RK is contradicting himself again like last year. Only a month back he said we will not score many goals this year. No Shi now he is moaning we cannot score enough. no shi that because your formatiosn are s RK you are the manager, this is your team, not one you inherited. You tell them how to play, you pick the team. The fault lies with you. Why not make the change before 1/2 time could you not see what all the fans saw. The wrong formation.

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HadleighBlueBoy added 14:53 - Oct 18 I thought the first half on Saturday was as bad as anything I saw last season to be honest. On another day we could have easily lost the match 5-1 and there really could have been no complaints! The formation, as many others have already said, was never going to work. Playing Scotland up front on his own and pumping up high balls to him, against a back four who looked like extras from 'Land of the Giants', was an obvious non-starter from the time the teams lined up for kick-off! I dont like playing 1 up front at home although to be fair it had pretty much worked for us until now. As a tactic it has a place at times in away matches but at home it is negative and gives the opposition confidence they might not otherwise have had. Once again the major problem we have is failing to score enough goals and playing a lone striker is not going to help that one bit. We are not good enough to prevent the opposition scoring and then sneak a one goal win on a regular basis so Roy needs a plan B - fast!!!

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itfc4eva added 14:29 - Oct 19 we need two strikers up front.
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tom_the_blue added 18:05 - Oct 20 at least we score 1, we need to tighten up at the back at home
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