Bristol City 0-0 Coventry City: Goalless stalemate between Robins and Sky Blues
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Viktor Gyokeres rues a missed chance for Coventry at Bristol City
Coventry City's unbeaten run continued with a goalless stalemate at Bristol City.
Mark Robins' men - still playing catch-up in the Championship following some early-season postponements due to a poor, rugby-affected pitch at the CBS Arena - produced a resilient display against their mid-table hosts.
The Sky Blues may be propping up the table, but four games unbeaten, with a win and a draw from their past two games, suggest better days may be on the horizon.
Their performance owed a lot to patient first-half defending, punctuated by some swift and clever counter-attacking play after the break.
Robins boss Nigel Pearson will have bemoaned his team's missed chances, notably Han-Noah Massengo driving his 13th-minute shot wide, and Antoine Semenyo failing to beat Ben Wilson from close range just after the half-hour mark.
The opening 45 minutes was one-way traffic from Bristol City's point-of-view, but try as they might, they simply could not find the ingenuity or invention to trouble a well-drilled Coventry team.
The Sky Blues were much-improved after the break and started to show more attacking intent as the game opened up.
Matty Godden saw his early second-half header beat home keeper Daniel Bentley, only for Mark Sykes to head it onto the crossbar and away.
But the overall performance was more about Coventry's defending, than their attacking prowess - with the Robins increasingly unable to find a way through.
The hosts did appeal for a late penalty when Callum Doyle appeared to handle a cross into a crowded penalty area, but referee James Bell waved play on.
While Bristol City did arrest a run of three defeats, they remain without a Championship win since 3 September.
Coventry, meanwhile, will be encouraged by the prospect of knowing they should be able to climb out of the bottom three, provided they win their games in hand.
Bristol City boss Nigel Pearson:
"We didn't quite get our rhythm but we persevered and the players worked hard.
"We crossed the ball into the box 40 times so we certainly got into attacking positions. Jay Dasilva was excellent and there were some good performances.
"The clean sheet is important because we didn't score. Andy King had to fill-in at centre-half, which is an unusual position for him, but he has a good football brain and he understands what the team needs. It was important for us to have someone with leadership there and he brings that. He did pretty well.
"Overall, one point from six at home in two games is disappointing but there are positives. We kept a clean sheet, we've relied on our strike force to be as prolific as they have been but it's important that when we don't score, we keep a clean sheet and get something from the game.
"We've got players who can understand that they need to work very hard for the team - that's their first challenge. We've had some chances tonight, not as many clear ones, but fair play to Coventry they defended their box well. It is disappointing but on the back of three narrow defeats it is what it is. It's a clean sheet and we need to make up ground at the weekend."
Coventry boss Mark Robins:
"We had the best chances of the game and we just needed to be a bit calmer at times. I am not going to criticise any individual, but we should have taken the game away from Bristol City at the start of the second half.
"It's a good point for us and an outstanding clean sheet. We had to defend a lot of crosses and did it really well.
"Bristol City are a dangerous team going forward and I felt we contained them to few clear openings.
"I thought we should have had a penalty for handball in the second half, but in the end we have come away with a draw against very good opponents."