Stone-faced Strachan feels pressure

The one-liners and the caustic wisecracks may still be in place, but underneath it all, the pressure is taking its toll on Gordon Strachan. Fresh from his media conference littered with stone-faced asides and protestations of calm, the Coventry manager walked past two reporters interviewing his goalkeeper Marcus Hedman outside the Pride Park dressing-rooms. 'Do you feel guilty when you let your manager down?' Hedman was asked. Strachan stopped, turned and glared. 'Are you suggesting my players let me down?' he rapped.

'If you are then you are wrong. None of my players need feel anything like that. They have let nobody down today. Nobody.' With that, Strachan was off to brood on a crisis that just won't go away.

A win at home to Leicester eight days ago may have suggested a change of fortune but on Saturday problems that have characterised the season returned.

Impotent in attack, careless defensively and devoid of fortune, their 1-0 defeat leaves Coventry with just four points from the last 27 and a looming relegation fight.

As his players left the field on Saturday, Strachan thanked and commiserated with each and every one, a sign of his continuing faith in them. They believe in him, as does his chairman Bryan Richardson. Belief is not always enough, though, and currently Coventry - having failed to adequately replace summer departures Robbie Keane and Gary McAllister - look short of quality.

Hedman admitted: 'We do believe in him and I actually think he is a better manager now than when I first came to the club a couple of years ago.

'But we cannot continue making errors like the one we did to give them the goal today. If we do we will struggle. We have to accept that we are not immune from relegation.' Hedman actually saved Craig Burley's shot after the inventive Stefano Eranio split Coventry's defence in only the eighth minute. But Malcolm Christie's smart follow-up brought his eighth goal of the season. Only a Mo Konjic volley and Yousseff Chippo's late shot threatened to earn Coventry a point.