Second-half strikes from James Perch and Levi Sutton helped secure the victory, with Conor Chaplin pulling one back late on for the Sky Blues.
McCall told iFollow Iron: “We’re delighted with the three points first and foremost, but I think overall the performance was good in a lot of areas against a good Coventry side who have won three on the bounce and have a lot of good, talented players.
“We always knew we would have to set the tempo and pace going forward, but they showed a couple of times they can be really dangerous on the break.
“We came in at half-time quietly happy with the way the lads had gone about their business. George (Thomas) had a really good effort in the first-half and their goalkeeper pulled off a great save. We told the players to keep at it and thought the odd goal could win this one, so we had to keep switched on at the back.
“We had a little bit of luck, which we’ve had for a few games now and it’s nice that it’s turned a little bit, with Perchy’s shot deflecting in. Having said that, we were unfortunate not to keep a clean sheet because their lad’s shot was going well wide. It hit Rory’s (Rory McArdle) head and went back in towards the goal, and unfortunately Chaplin nipped in, which makes us sweat a little bit for the last 10 minutes.
“Overall, it was deserved and hard-fought with some really outstanding performances, and it’s nice to keep the momentum going. We had a few more fans here today. We won’t get carried away but hopefully it’s onwards and upwards. Naturally when you win three on the bounce, which we’ve not done before now this season, it’s great for the spirit.”
Former academy product Sutton scored his first professional goal, and it proved to be the match-winner. McCall had praise for him and also striker Kyle Wootton, who won the Iron Bar man of the match award.
“The lad gives you everything he’s got,” added McCall. “We’ve played him out wide as a wing-back and today we went with the diamond, playing him at the right of it because of his energy. He had a shot in the first-half, and tried to be clever with it, but his goal was great.
“Big Kyle up top was outstanding and led the line like a real centre-forward. Novs (Lee Novak) helps him a lot in that but when Novs came off in the last bit of the game, he was up there on his own and Kyle’s turning into a real strong player for us at the moment.
“I keep saying to Kyle, Levi and everyone really that we have strength now and options, so you have to keep producing to be in the side, and they’re certainly doing that.
“We had a decent squad beforehand, but we’ve suffered with the injuries, but now we’ve bolstered. I can’t thank the Chairman enough for what he’s done. There might still be one or two in the next three to four weeks that might come in and it just makes us stronger.
“It was nice to see all the lads (four of the five new signings) who were on the bench, who haven’t got on and will have wanted to make their debuts for us, realise it’s a team game and be the first to congratulate the other lads. We’re in it together.”
McCall continued: “We have a behind-closed-doors game against Grimsby on Tuesday which will give me a chance to see all the new lads in action and we have to keep this momentum going. It was massive that we built on what we’ve done in the last two games. It’s the first time in a month that I’ve actually looked at the league table and it looks a lot better. We have 19 games to go and 57 points to play for, and we just have to keep at it and get the best out of each other.”
There was one change to the team, as debutant Tony McMahon replaced Charlie Goode, who had a knee injury, two days after signing on loan from Oxford United.
The boss said: “We felt the lads who had played so well at Peterborough deserved another go at it. Having said that, Charlie tweaked his knee on Thursday so he was a genuine injury absentee. I wouldn’t have played three centre-halves today. I’d have probably played the side we played anyway.
“Tony gives us what we expect, and he has good delivery and quality from the back to get us playing. Looking throughout the team, I was delighted with a lot of the performances. He had a lot of family here and is delighted to be back up playing near them. He did well.”
McCall concluded: “It was a big game today. There’s not a lot between sides in the division when teams are ‘at it’. We’ve cut out the elementary individual errors which have been killing us. You need a little bit of luck and that’s turned for us in the last few games, which helps, and it builds momentum, confidence and belief. There’s still a long way to go, but we want to start looking upwards, and hopefully with more performances like that we will.
See much more from Stuart McCall, James Perch, Levi Sutton and Tony McMahon on iFollow Iron. Click here to sign-up.
