Mark Robins admitted Coventry dropped below the standards they have set as their three-match winning run in the Championship came to an end with a 2-2 draw against Bristol City.

Tatsuhiro Sakamoto gave the Sky Blues the lead against the run of play before goals from Rob Dickie and Nahki Wells put the visitors ahead with seven minutes remaining.

But just two minutes later Max O’Leary spilled Liam Kitching’s shot and Ellis Simms was on hand to tap in the equaliser.

Robins said: “Look, we dipped below the standards we have set. It looked like we had played two games on a real heavy pitch last week (at Hillsborough).

“They’ve got a lot of quality in the team. We didn’t show our quality enough.

“Our two goals were decent goals. Their two goals were really poor – a second phase of a set-play and a shot from Nahki Wells, who is a really good finisher but we gave him a little bit too much time and space.

“We were our own worst enemy. We gave away the ball too often and it was a bit negative.”

After a first half that saw Brad Collins forced into saves from Jason Knight and Taylor Gardner-Hickman, the Sky Blues stopper pulled off a miraculous reaction save to prevent Harry Cornick making it 3-2 to the visitors at the death.

Robins added: “I’ve got to be happy with a point. Brad’s save at the end was world-class. It keeps us in there at 2-2.

“If you can’t win, then don’t lose. That was the best I can say about things.

“I thought Tatsuhiro did really well, scored a really good goal and there were little glimpses at times when it looked like we might go and do something but there was no fluidity there.

“You’ve got to credit them in some respects with the way they went about their work. It has got to be a point gained.”

Bristol City head coach Liam Manning, on the other hand, said: “I think it’s two points lost with the time we go ahead.

“It was against the run of play because we had stopped controlling the game how we want, Nahki produced a real high moment of quality to go ahead and then obviously when you’ve got eight, nine, 10 minutes to see out the game.

“We’d done such a good job of that beforehand, restricting them to crosses and very few chances, you get that emotional rollercoaster of conceding so soon after.

“But you also have to step back and the bigger picture is we’ve come to a side who are in form, on a good run themselves, and I thought we created numerous opportunities to hurt them, cause problems and did some really good things.

“Their goal in the first half was against the run of play – I thought we conceded two really soft goals tonight, I thought first 15 minutes we could have been one or two ahead and got into some really good areas.

“I spoke to the lads about it, we’ve got to stop being ‘nearly’ and deliver and execute, for me that ruthless edge, (we’re) letting teams off the hook.”

Ellis Simms scored a late equaliser but Coventry’s three-match winning run came to an end with a 2-2 draw against Bristol City.

Tatsuhiro Sakamoto’s seventh goal of the season put the Sky Blues ahead with a rare foray forward in the first half before Rob Dickie equalised on the stroke of half-time.

Nahki Wells put the Robins ahead for the first time with a smart finish with seven minutes remaining but Simms was on hand to tap home an equaliser just two minutes later.

The visitors were without a win in four Championship outings but started the evening on the front foot when Jason Knight tested Brad Collins from distance inside the opening minutes.

Taylor Gardner-Hickman made his loan move from West Brom a permanent one earlier this month and Collins was forced into action once again to beat the midfielder’s swerving long-range effort to safety.

Coventry had barely threatened the Robins’ goal in the opening half an hour but when Sakamoto took the ball down inside the box and created an angle to squeeze his shot into the far corner, the Sky Blues had an unlikely lead.

It was a first half Bristol City had at the very least deserved to end on level terms and they did so through Dickie, who glanced a header in off the far post after a wicked ball in from Gardner-Hickman.

It was the second time this season the defender had scored against the Sky Blues after the former QPR man netted the winner against Mark Robins’ men back in October.

Both Coventry and Bristol City face replays if they are to progress to the fifth round of the FA Cup, and both sides cancelled each other out during a quiet start to the second half.

A potential tie with Maidstone awaits Coventry if they beat Sheffield Wednesday, whilst Bristol City could host Manchester United if they beat Nottingham Forest.

Callum O’Hare flashed a shot wide for the Sky Blues before substitute Ross McCrorie blazed his effort over at the other end, while Dickie was inches away from poking the visitors ahead with 15 minutes to go.

Wells thought he had given Bristol City a fifth away win of the season when he latched onto a loose ball in the box and fired home his first goal since September.

But the hosts were back level when Max O’Leary spilled Liam Kitching’s piledriver into the path of Simms, who tapped home an immediate leveller.

Simms could have snatched all three points for Coventry after Milan van Ewijk’s tantalising cross flashed across the face of goal.

There was still a chance for Liam Manning’s men to earn all three points, but Collins’ smart reaction save preserved Coventry’s 10-match unbeaten run in the league as he denied Harry Cornick.

Mark Robins admitted his disappointment as Coventry salvaged a point against Norwich with a 1-1 draw at the Coventry Building Society Arena.

Ben Gibson’s 88th-minute own goal handed the Sky Blues a point and maintained their unbeaten home start to the season after Jonathan Rowe poked in his sixth of the season before half time.

The Sky Blues had chances to take all three points after Milan van Ewijk and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto had chances to steal all three points in added time.

Robins explained: “We deserved a point very much so, but I think we can be a little bit disappointed that we didn’t go on and win it.

“During the game that’s the first time we feel that we’ve been able to have any sort of meaningful possession, and even though we went behind we knew we were in the game.

“We got in at half-time at 1-0 and we knew we were in the game, well in it. The fact that we were shows that there’s been a significant step forward been taken.

“The fact that we ended up pinning them in for large parts of the second half and especially at the end, when I made the changes, I think that had a benefit because it re-energised us, which was really important.

“The ball into the penalty area for the own goal, the quality on the ball meant that Gibson had to head it and thankfully it hit the back of the net.

“It keeps our unbeaten record at home intact and that’s huge. This point is a big point on the back of the two previous wins, so seven points from three games is really good and we can look forward to building, and hopefully we can start to get a few players back now and hopefully things will start to look a little bit better after the international break.”

Norwich manager David Wagner rued the missed chances that could have seen his side double their lead in the second half as he reflected on a hard-fought point on the road following three consecutive away defeats.

“The result is because we conceded so late, even if I can say I think it was a fair result.” said the former Huddersfield boss. “I was very pleased with how the players execute our idea, to give Coventry a little bit possession, make sure we defend from a low block and be a threat on the transition.

“I think it worked, they put in a real shift. Obviously, you have to defend your crosses and you have to have some blocks but there were no real big chances which I’ve seen over a long period.

“We scored a great counter press goal and had two further golden opportunities from Adam Idah and Liam Gibbs where we have to kill the game, especially in the second half where we had this period of 25-30 minutes where we were very comfortable on the ball, there we have to kill the game and this is unfortunately what we haven’t done.

“If you defend crosses then always a mistake can happen what happened and then you concede a goal and obviously the feeling is totally different even if you have done exactly the same game, exactly the same performance because the outcome is different, but I was pleased with the effort, with the togetherness, with the commitment, it was a hard fought point which they deserved.”