Manager Roy Keane was pleased with his side’s character and desire during the 2-1 opening day defeat at Coventry City. The Blues boss said he was taking a lot of positives from the match despite the loss.

Keane said: “I had no qualms really about the character and desire to get back in the game and even when we were 2-0 down. I felt that if we kept our heads and kept probing away, and we got back into the game at 2-1.

“In the second half we pretty much dominated. Obviously we left a few gaps at the back, as you’d expect, but there were a lot of positives”

Keane was unhappy with Coventry’s goals and thought his team need to be more clinical: "We gave two very poor goals away and lacked sharpness in the final third, but that will come in the coming weeks and months.

"The first goal came from a goalkick and the starting position of everyone was very poor.

"And the second one, Clinton has headed it at knee height. If you're a defender and he heads it that low you take his head off, it's as simple as that.

"I'll be down tonight, but the day my appetite isn't affected by defeat I'll be out of the game. I am trying to learn from my experiences at Sunderland and not get too downhearted but I will not get home, put my feet up and have a whistle.

"But I've been like that since I was eight or nine-years-old. The beauty of it is that we have a game on Tuesday night so that can cheer me up.

"There will always be disappointments in football but I will be OK - don't worry about me.

"This will put a dampener on my birthday [on Monday] for sure but Roy Keane's birthday is not, and should not be, important in the grand scheme of things."

Keane says he was looking for someone to pop up with a goal towards the end: "I will constantly be asking my players who the man is to get a goal in the last five minutes. They didn't answer that today but they will have to learn how to soon.

“We’ll have to reflect on the defeat over the next few days, but I try and look at the positives. I’m disappointed with the goals we conceded, of course I am, but we’ll look to bounce back on Tuesday and we’ve another big league game next Saturday.

“I’ve no problem with the players, we’ve just got to stop giving away the silly goals.”

Keane says midfielder David Norris, who was replaced in the second half after colliding with Jon Stead, will undergo a scan early this week: "We'll know more on Monday. We're hoping it's not ligaments.

"He may have opened up his knee or is could be a dead leg. We're not sure yet, but it looks like he will be struggling for the Carling Cup game at Shrewsbury on Tuesday."

Town are already without Tamás Priskin and Gareth McAuley, who are away on international duty in midweek, while Keane has already said he plans to make changes.

Coventry manager Chris Coleman hopes the result can instil some positivity at the Ricoh Arena: "Throughout pre-season there has been a lot of negativity around us.

"We've lost two very good young players which the club never wanted to do but if Manchester United can lose their best player then Coventry City certainly can.

"All the talk before the game was about Ipswich and Roy Keane and where they will finish, but I prefer that.

"We won't come up against a stronger side and we were flustered at set-plays, but we got through it and no one went missing in my side.

"I'm sure Roy will go back home and kick his cat because he hates losing but that's a feather in our cap."

Photo: Action Images

londontractorboy added 16:46 - Aug 9 "And the second one, Clinton has headed it at knee height. If you're a defender and he heads it that low you take his head off, it's as simple as that. Brilliant....
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Blue_Fred added 16:51 - Aug 9
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Blue_Fred added 16:53 - Aug 9 thought about it and.................yep I agree................... RK's attitude is nothing short of priceless.
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barmyarmy added 16:53 - Aug 9 londontractorboy- i agree that is a quality comment from keane! now all he needs to do is install that mentality into the players and we can be the bad boys of football! that will give us the edge on other teams who would rather look in the mirror and shave each others balls.we should be rough and willing to do anything to win the ball+ games!
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readtheleaguetable added 16:54 - Aug 9 " We won't come up against a stronger side", says Cov boss. I like that.
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ITFCson added 17:13 - Aug 9 Although a disappointing result, quite an encouraging performance. Just look at the shot count to see we deserved atleast a point. Comical 1st goal to concede, we really need to cut out those basic errors if we going to have a sucessful season, although credit to morrison who finished both with class. On another day without the dodgy offside decisions and maybe a pen we should of had we'd had won the game. Good to see peters start, think could be a big season for him, still not convinced about delaney

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TractorBoy added 17:19 - Aug 9 Walters put in a great performance, Delaney had a good start. McAuley was shocking today- but hopefully RK can give him a kick up the backside. We showed we can create chances, it's just about putting them away. Roll on Leicester on Saturday UTT!
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dirtydingusmagee added 17:28 - Aug 9 yep i think Peters could be a key player this season too ! its not the start we wanted but ,we at least looked up for it ,2nd half we were much better side .
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StowTractorBoy added 17:31 - Aug 9 I've said it on here before and I'll say it again but we need a giant and heavy set centre back who will not be afraid to go in where it hurts. Our centre backs are just too nice and allowed Coventry far too much space. It frustrates me so much that manager after manager at this club cannot get our defence right. I'd rather win 1-0 and be boring than what happened today - it is so frustrating. I know its early days for Roy Keane and I just hope he can tighten us up something that has not happened since Burley and Stuart Houston were together. Every season we start slowly - as you can tell feel very down tonight and at the moment not looking forward to the 400 mile round trip to Shrewsbury.

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MarkITFC added 17:37 - Aug 9 BRING ON Saturday
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svendust added 17:38 - Aug 9 Impressed with Peters and Trotter in midfield, hopefully Norris' injury isn't too serious as they looked a good midfield. Walters was head and shoulders above Martin and Stead, hopefully Priskin can come in a match Walters level and we can get in someone else as well as I'm not convinced about Stead and Martin. Defensively we were poor, Delaney was slow to respond and just slow in general, McCauley was also tentative. Bruce at CB and Wright at RB makes a world of difference but I think we should be looking at getting a LB on loan from a prem side, someone who can attack as well as defend. Looking forward to Saturday now and watching Healy. Peters and Trotter tear Leicester apart!

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Rozz added 17:41 - Aug 9 Nail on the head, disappointing, yet encouraging. Definitely deserved at least a point from the game when you look at the number of chances and the possession we had throughout the second half. Walters looked good today, caused a lot of problems in the air for their left back and if you can get the ball in that position with half their team up the field then goals will follow at some point. Peters ran his socks off and once our strikers find their rhythm and start putting goals away I think we'll be extremely dangerous. I'm not confident about Delaney, he seems to be caught out of position regularly and doesn't have the pace to track back when he's drifted forward. In fact in the second half when he gets a bit leggy and stops traveling so much he looks alot more solid defensively. Clinical finishing from their lad, you could see he wasn't going to waste a chance to hit the back of the net. Both goals could've been avoided, so once the back 4 -dare I say it- 'gels' we could be looking at a very strong team. Some silly mistakes let us down today, but it's not often Wrightey has a bad game and all will be forgiven for a win over Leicester saturday week.

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JesusStockwell added 17:43 - Aug 9 Apart from a defensive howler for their 1st goal I thought the boys played really well, especially going forward. Shrewsbury away on Tuesday night isn't going to be a walk in the park but I feel with a good win confidence will be high for next weekend's game at home to Leicester. "In Keane we must trust"
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ipswich4life added 17:46 - Aug 9 man of the match for coventry has to go to their outstanding linesman,money well spent colman and get rid of that f***ing mcauley seen better center halfs at ram medow
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Rozz added 18:06 - Aug 9 That reminds me, some unfortunate decisions made by the lino aswell. I say unfortunate, i mean sh*t.
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Back_The_Boss added 18:13 - Aug 9 I love Keano's no-nonsense attitude. If it weren't for the officials it could have been a thrashing.
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tractorboybig added 18:34 - Aug 9 o dear,sold all there best players, have not brought anyone,writen off as no hopers, BUT they beat us and its the officials fault???????? Good job its a marathon and not a sprint.
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 18:35 - Aug 9 Good, largely solid display from the Town today against a pretty handy Coventry side, who certainly rode their luck at times; on another day we would have run out winners. Pleased with Keano's team, tactics and post-match reaction: we had a pretty young & exciting team out there, even if it's not yet quite the finished article; we attacked and were positive throughout - no messing around with pretty play that doesn't bring results, but equally no unnecessarily dirty play either, which never wins matches in the long run; and thirdly, Keano was pleased on the whole with the team afterwards. No point in bawling at players who have played well, given their all and not had the luck. Glad to see Roy understands that. Many positives from this game, but Rome wasn't built in a day. COYBs!

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ipswich4life added 18:37 - Aug 9 didnt think wrighty had that bad a game,must be hard to concentrate when he's got 4 clowns in front of him,but apart from costly mistakes at the back yet again we looked the better team by far have no doubt keano will sort it out and get us in the plaff offs
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SmiffyboyITFC4ever added 18:42 - Aug 9 It was a disappointing result but overall a determined performance..at least we kept going to the end..somethin we severely lacked under magilton.. Great perfomances by "Walters", "Trotter" and particularly "Peters" great to see him back and giving 100%...honestly believe that this defeat will galvanise our charge in the long run..am sure keano will remind the players of this game and continue to work hard to put things right.. Martin also played well and am sure he will get even better as the season progresses. Heads should remain high..it's a long season on this performance ITFC has what it takes to give this season a real go.....BELIEVE...the only way is up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Greektractor added 18:45 - Aug 9 Went to coventry today, have never felt so positive about a loss. Other than the two goals we conceded we controlled the game, physically the lads looked much stronger and focused. Don't wanna start moaning but was really unimpressed with Dealaney. Peters looked good but didn't really suit his role. Walters played superbly, great goal and Martins look really impressive. Overall looks good, a couple more additions gotta be a priority, Dos Santos, of course, would push us towards promotion

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paddypowell added 18:51 - Aug 9 i think a lino who gives a free kick when player falls over with no one near,shouldnt be paid.lots of positives 2nd half,long way to go yet,so dont get too worried
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Rozz added 18:57 - Aug 9 from what I've heard and the way we played today I think we'd better get used to the lino's being crap. Priskin is that sort of player, and I think he'll get called offside (rightly so or not) quite a few times this season. Not an excuse though, we can't control the officials. Good performance anyways, expected to be gutted with a loss after all this hype but you can tell we're getting there for sure. Roll on Liecester. Roll on a top 6 finish.

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CustardCream added 19:17 - Aug 9 I was impressed by Wickham once he had come on.
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buryblue77 added 19:18 - Aug 9 Disappointing result, but the desire was there to get back into the game so credit to the team. Roy's attitude is excellent, he will hopefully be able to transfer his mentality into the players. As for the actually game, I thought most of the players looked good, especially Walters and Peters. Totter played reasonably well, as did Pim and Delany, though Bruce was solid, but show's he's not really a full back as he doesn't really get forward but was strong defensively which is what we need if McCauley is going to be as shocking as he was at times today. Having said that he started last season poorly but got better. Here's hoping for a good season, if we can get the ball in the net as well as gritty displays like today I really do think we'll be able to achieve autmatic promotion.

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