Coventry 0-0 West Brom match report: The Daily Mirror Verdict

Jonas Olsson was forced to keep his Scandinavian cool after his off-colour West Brom side let another chance to get back to winning ways slip away at Coventry City.

The Swede had little to do in a goalless draw at the Ricoh Arena, but his side’s failure to convert pressure into points led to a small section of the 4,000 travelling support giving him a verbal lashing.

Olsson had gone across to applaud the Baggies fans but ended up the object of their frustrations.

“I understand the fans are disappointed but we are thankful to have so many who travel to support us, so I wanted to applaud them for their good effort,” Olsson said.

“They don’t have to applaud me back, but a couple of people made gestures that I thought showed disrespect.

“I was emotional at the end because of the result, but it was nothing. It’s disappointing because the game wasn’t a point gained, it was two points lost.

“We are not doing anything better or worst than earlier in the season but it isn’t to be at the moment.

“We knew there would be high expectations and we expect a lot from ourselves. But I like the pressure – it’s a new situation to last year and after coming down and keeping most of the squad, it’s right to feel like we should be challenging at the top.

“We’ve had two games in a row which we maybe would have won at the start of the season. But thankfully for us it is a long season and will have important players coming back, so I think that will help us a lot.”

Roberto Di Matteo’s side had the best of the chances in a game lacking quality, however Coventry should have taken the lead in the ninth minute. Patrick van Aanholt sent a delicate cross to the back post - but Michael McIndoe failed to make a decent connection in the six-yard box.

A minute later, the home side suffered a set-back when goalkeeper Keiren Westwood was forced off after jarring his back.

His replacement, Dimi Konstantopoulos, had made just one appearance for Coventry in 18 months, but walked away with the man-of-the-match award after some excellent blocks.

He was first called into action in the 37th minute, when he just managed to stop a Graham Dorrans half-volley.

He had to be at his best on the stroke of half-time too, when Luke Moore managed to fire in a low shot, which the keeper tipped wide.

But his greatest contribution came minutes from time when Dorrans put replacement Chris Wood through one-on-one, but the Greek shot-stopper blocked a certain match-winner.

Konstantopoulos said: “A clean sheet for a goalkeeper is all you can hope for and to do that against so I’m very pleased.

“It’s a point against a good team. It took five minutes to get used to the game and it is not easy to come on after 10 minutes, but after getting used to it I was ok.

“It’s been a while since we have had a clean sheet so that is very pleasing too. That will boost our confidence defensively, especially because of who it is against.

“Its been frustrating for me because I want to play games but you need to bide your time as a goalkeeper and just do the best you can when you get a chance.

“I’ve tried to do that today by keeping a clean sheet and doing the best I can, so hopefully it will give the manager a selection headache.”

Coventry City (4-4-2): Westwood 6 (Konstantopolous 10, 7);  Cranie 6, Turner 6, Wright 6, Clarke 7 (Bell 68, 6); McIndoe 6, Cork 6, Osbourne 7, van Aanholt 8; Eastwood 5 (Madine 6, 90), Morrison 6. Subs: Ward, Hussey, Cain, Grandison

West Brom (4-5-1): Carson 6; Zuiverloon 6, Olsson 5, Meite 6, Mattock 7;  Koren 6 (Teixeira 67, 6), Dorrans 7, Jara 6, Mulumbu 6, Thomas 8 (Cech 83, 6); Moore 7 (Wood 83, 6). Subs: Kiely, Reid, Martis, Cox

Attendance: 20,871

Keith Stroud (Hampshire)