Mark Robins was full of praise for Ellis Sims after he scored back-to-back hat-tricks at Coventry Building Society Arena.
Sims started the scoring, with Joel Latibaudiere and Fabio Tavares scoring on either side of Ellis’ remaining two goals.
With this win, City move up to 8th place.th After the final whistle, Robins reflected on his impressive night against Rotherham United, with the Reds now just three points clear of the top six in the Championship.
That performance and Ellis Sims scoring another hat trick…
“In the first half, we scored early and helped calm everyone down when they needed composure. The goalie dropped the ball over Ellis’ head and it gave him confidence. He hadn’t had a hat-trick since last week and now he’s done it twice in one week.
It was great. The first left-footed shot was great, but the goalkeeper tripped him and it didn’t reach the goal. The third one was a great play. A great ball went in. Haji set it and he hit the far corner. That’s outstanding and that’s what he can do.
Haji and Eris are starting to build a good relationship there, but there’s still work for us to work on.
It was great to see the supporters chanting his name and he’s a calm guy who doesn’t show much emotion, but I’m sure he’ll be happy and I’m happy for him.”
Another goal for this night…
“Joel Latibaudiere’s goal was a really good goal. A good ball from Biders. I think he jumped over the crossbar and headed it in. It was a great leap and Fabio scored it. The goal was great.”
We tried to take advantage of them as much as we could, and wherever they gave us space, and the fact that we were very aggressive in possession, when we turned the ball over , meant they had players in good positions to attack them. ”
The second half of the exhibition…
“It’s normal in a way, but you either mentally ease off on the gas or they come out and do well in the second half.
We were okay with the ball and had a lot of turnovers, but with good defense and good positioning we were able to keep the opponents at bay and keep a clean sheet. ”
Goalkeeper change…
“Brad Collins was taking a breather and could have come back into the team sooner, but he was unwell so I couldn’t make that change.
Since then, Ben has kept two clean sheets in three games, which has made him a nuisance to the team, and Brad has had to wait for an opportunity to return. It’s not like I was trying to bring Ben back, it’s just the situation.
We have two great goalkeepers who can come in and perform on any stage we’ve ever had. If there are two of them, they have to fight for it, and it’s healthy for those two to fight. Because it pushes each other up and we need it in every position. ”