Dowie wants League boost after FA Cup shock
Coventry City manager Iain Dowie challenged his players to transfer their outstanding cup exploits into their league form after the Championship side’s thrilling 4-1 FA Cup third round win away to Blackburn Rovers.
For the second time this season Dowie’s team overcame Premier League opposition, after September’s surprise League Cup win against Manchester United at Old Trafford, with a convincing rout of Mark Hughes’s men.
The two clubs were separated by 28 league places with Dowie’s side languishing five points above the second-tier relegation zone.
But two goals from Maltese striker Michael Mifsud – City’s match winner at Old Trafford – an Elliott Ward penalty and a fine finish from Dele Adebola showed Dowie the heights Coventry can reach when on form.
“We thoroughly deserved to win and this was a better victory than beating Manchester United,” said Dowie.
“To come to a place like this and beat a side that has been put together extremely well by Mark Hughes is a great credit to us,” the former Charlton manager added.
“Tactically, we got it right and we cancelled out Blackburn’s threat and we could have won the game by an even bigger margin.
“They are a team that will qualify for Europe, so this is a great result. The big question, though, is how do we transfer our cup form into the league? That’s the task that faces us now.
“Coventry is a big cup town and everybody still talks about the 1987 Cup Final victory (when City beat Tottenham 3-2).
“Hopefully now, people will have something else to talk about and they will talk about us winning at Manchester United and Blackburn.”
Hughes admitted that his side had been outplayed and branded Rovers’s performance as unacceptable with David Bentley’s 85th minute goal meagre consolation during a dismal showing.
“We deserved to have been booed off at the end,” said Hughes, four-times an FA Cup winner as a player with Manchester United and Chelsea.
“The second-half was unacceptable from our point of view and in the the end, it was quite comprehensive.
“Michael Mifsud caused us problems and we didn’t deal with him well and what we got what we deserved because they were the better side,” the former Wales striker added.
“We’ve been to two cup semi-finals recently and enjoyed them but we have certainly not enjoyed this.”
Source:Soccer News
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