Di Matteo taking nothing for granted

25 March 2010 07:59
Steven Reid, on loan from Blackburn, grabbed the only goal midway through the first half as Albion threatened to have the game wrapped up by half-time, Robert Koren also being denied a goal despite the ball appearing to cross the line.[LNB]But the Sky Blues hit back after the interval with Jonathan Stead, Carl Baker and Clinton Morrison all coming within inches of changing the game.[LNB]And although Albion held firm to strengthen their grip on second place, Di Matteo is not taking anything for granted.[LNB]"It's one more hurdle that we've passed," he said. "Nothing has been achieved but we're pleased with the three points and the six points from the last two home games.[LNB]"Tonight was a bit of a scrappy game but we managed to get the goal and put ourselves in front and then we battled, we defended our goal very dearly.[LNB]"I think our legs were a little bit tired and Coventry had nothing to lose, they threw everything at us."[LNB]With a handful of his squad in the treatment room, the Baggies boss will evaluate his players on Thursday morning with the emergency loan window closing at 5pm.[LNB]"Chris Brunt came off with a problem to his ankle, we'll have to see how he is tomorrow," he added. "We'll have to see who's coming back as well, I know of maybe one player coming back for Saturday."[LNB]The defeat left Coventry eight points behind sixth-placed Cardiff with seven games remaining.[LNB]Having tasted defeat just twice in their previous 11 games, the Sky Blues are now winless in four and have slipped off the pace in the race for a play-off spot.[LNB]But manager Chris Coleman is refusing to give up on the top six.[LNB]"It's important we finish as high as we can," he said. "While there's even a slim glimmer of hope that we can get into the play-offs, we've got to hang onto that.[LNB]"It would be such a big thing for us. Of course, it's a long shot but there's still a lot of points to play for."[LNB]Coleman added: "West Brom were hanging on at the end. Second half we played very, very well and I felt we deserved at least a point from that.[LNB]"Honestly, I believe that if one of our chances had gone in, as we were the team with the momentum, then we would have got another one."[LNB][LNB]

Source: Team_Talk