COVENTRY City boss Mark Robins accused Middlesbrough's players of "throwing themselves to the floor" in an effort to get a visiting player sent off after Hayden Hackney had seen red at the Riverside.

Three Coventry players were booked in the first half and Robins admitted he was concerned the numbers would be evened up, saying Boro were "trying to get one of ours sent off".

Jack Rudoni, one of the Coventry players booked in the first half, committed a foul after the break but referee Thomas Bramall opted against a second sending off, to the fury of those playing in white. He was later taken off by Robins.

Coventry took advantage of being a man to the good for three quarters of the game and ended up running out 3-0 winners thanks to goals from Bobby Thomas, Haji Wright and Josh Eccles, a first away success of the season for the Sky Blues.

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"It's been a long time coming but the performances were always there, which gives people a bit of anxiety from time to time," said visiting boss Robins.

"The numbers were reduced early in the game but we started brilliantly. The game became bitty and they were trying to get one of ours sent off, throwing themselves to the floor at every opportunity and the referee was dishing out yellow cards and you're a bit concerned that the numbers would be evened up.

"But I thought we played really well when they had 11. When they went down to 10 men it had a change in focus and direction. They got a little bit more of the ball.

"We wanted to try and stop them dictating the play and when they went down to 10 men, that's what happened, we dropped, sank away and allowed them to get some control.

"But we came back from that, they created some chances and could have scored themselves. We eventually became more composed and that came with the second goal, which was a brilliant goal.

"There was some really good bits of play from us. I'm happy but it has been a long time coming. We've been due a bit of luck.

"It could have been more but three points was really important and a good performance was really important."

Boro were without Rav van den Berg and Ben Doak, with Robins admitting the hosts sorely missed the latter.

"They're a good team so when you do your analysis against them and are planning to play them, they have really good players and very clever, they drag you into positions," said the Coventry boss.

"Ben Doak was a miss for them, we spoke about him yesterday and he's been one of the shining lights for them.

"They've had Latte Lath on the bench, Tommy Conway scoring two last week. They have some real quality."