Boss Mark Robins underlined Coventry’s determination to keep star man Callum O’Hare after he inspired the Sky Blues to a stunning late victory over Leicester.
The midfielder netted twice as the hosts scored three goals in the final 11 minutes to beat the 10-man Foxes 3-1.
O’Hare levelled before Milan van Ewijk fired Coventry ahead with two minutes left and then added a third in stoppage time.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s penalty gave Leicester the lead but Abdul Fatawu’s red card in first-half injury time gave Coventry the impetus.
O’Hare’s deal expires in the summer and Robins insisted the club will do everything they can to keep him, with the O’Hare having recovered from a serious knee injury.
Robins said: “You’ve got to wait for that. We can only do so much but we will 100 per cent want to keep him. Whatever happens it won’t be for the want of trying or not wanting to do it from our part.
“Looking at characteristics of people in teams, he epitomises what we want to do. He is brave, goes after things, a good communicator, an effervescent character and has added goalscoring to it.
“He deserves all the plaudits he gets. We missed him greatly.
“I thought we were brilliant. It was one of the best performances we’ve had this season, in many seasons. You have to understand how good the opponent is and then pick the bones out of the performance.
“Even with 11 v 11 we were outstanding.”
The leaders slipped to a first defeat in 11 league games after the Sky Blues’ grandstand finish.
Coventry dominated for long spells – Tatsuhiro Sakamoto hitting the post early – but fell behind a minute before the break.
Van Ewijk lost possession and Bobby Thomas caught Dewsbury-Hall, despite winning the ball first, as he attempted to recover the situation.
Dewsbury-Hall converted from the spot but the Foxes were soon down to 10 men when Fatawu recklessly clattered into Jake Bidwell for a straight red.
Matty Godden headed at Mads Hermansen but Coventry had to wait until 11 minutes from time to start their comeback.
Ellis Simms and Jay Dasilva combined for O’Hare to roll into the corner and van Ewijk put the Sky Blues ahead with two minutes left, firing in from the edge of the box after Leicester failed to clear a corner.
O’Hare then wrapped up the victory when he volleyed in from close range after Godden’s shot was blocked.
Leicester boss Enzo Maresca said: “We played two games, the first half was one and the second half was another.
“The red card changed the game completely. Abdul is very young, he needs to learn many things – in some moments you need to be more calm.
“It’s part of his process and he has to improve many things, at 1-0 up he tried to recover the ball not with the right thing. It happens.
“I feel proud when we win, win, win but today I feel more proud. We continued to play, fight and we didn’t concede important chances until the goal. It’s part of the game, with so many games it can happen.”
Hull City 3-3 Ipswich Town: Tigers fight back three times to deny Tractor Boys
Ipswich Town missed the chance to move into an automatic promotion spot as play-off-chasing Hull City came from behind three times in a thrilling 3-3 Championship draw at The MKM Stadium.
Ipswich knew a victory would take them second after Leeds United were surprisingly beaten 4-0 by Queens Park Rangers on Friday, and they led on three separate occasions, George Hirst opening the scoring before Omari Hutchinson produced two brilliant strikes from the edge of the area.
However, buoyed by slip-ups from rivals Norwich City and West Brom earlier on Saturday, Hull dug deep to fight back on each occasion, Ozan Tufan and Liam Delap scoring their first two equalisers.
With Liam Rosenior's men 3-2 down with just four minutes to play, substitute Noah Ohio blasted his shot in off the crossbar to punish an error from Ipswich goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky.
The result keeps Ipswich behind second-placed Leeds on goal difference, though the Tractor Boys have a game in hand to come at Coventry City on Tuesday.
Hull, meanwhile, are two points adrift of the top six, with Norwich's goal difference advantage meaning their top-six spot is all but assured. The Tigers will, however, leapfrog West Brom if they beat Plymouth Argyle on the final day and Albion lose to Preston North End.
Data Debrief: Hutchinson's best not enough
Hutchinson was a man who deserved to be on the winning side on Saturday, giving Ryan Allsop no chance with two near-identical left-footed strikes from the right corner of the penalty area.
His goals came from an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.6, and he led all players on the pitch for shots (eight) and passes in the final third (21), also laying on three chances for his team-mates.
Al-Khaleej 0-1 Al-Nassr: Ronaldo misfires on return as Laporte nets winner
Cristiano Ronaldo returned from suspension but failed to find the net as Al-Nassr secured a 1-0 win over Al-Khaleej on Saturday, with Aymeric Laporte coming up with the decisive goal.
Ronaldo was in action for the first time since being sent off for an elbow in a 2-1 Saudi Super Cup loss to Al-Hilal earlier this month, with his initial two-match ban being reduced to one on appeal.
He missed three good chances as Al-Nassr threatened to fall further behind runaway Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, but former Manchester City defender Laporte spared his blushes by nodding Marcelo Brozovic's deep free-kick into the bottom-left corner with 68 minutes gone.
Al-Nassr remain nine points adrift of Al-Hilal at the summit in spite of their win, with Jorge Jesus' team unbeaten through 28 games this season as they close in on a record-extending 18th title.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo misfires on return
Ronaldo was presented with the Saudi Pro League's Player of the Month award for March ahead of kick-off, having scored four goals in three league appearances last month.
However, his sights were off on Saturday as he failed to net despite three of the visitors' four big chances, as defined by Opta, falling his way. He led all players on the pitch for expected goals (1.27 xG), shots (five), shots on target (three) and touches in the area (nine) without reward.
Huddersfield all but relegated from Championship while League Two play-off spots decided
Huddersfield Town saw their relegation from the Championship all but confirmed after a 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Birmingham City on Saturday.
The Terriers avoided a defeat that would have seen them relegated on Saturday, but even a win on the final day over promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town will not be enough unless they overcome a huge goal difference of 15 goals with Plymouth Argyle.
Birmingham remain in the other relegation place and now must beat Norwich City to stand a chance of staying up with Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth and Blackburn Rovers also still in danger.
At the other end of the table, the Canaries dropped points in a 2-2 draw with Swansea City, leaving the door open for Hull City, who face Ipswich Town later today.
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