Crystal Palace 2 Coventry City 1

Tuesday night's big game at Selhurst Park saw Crystal Palace host Coventry City in the Championship.

Both managers were in upbeat mood ahead of the game despite differing fortunes to date in their fledgling seasons but visiting boss Andy Thorn knew that his side would have to start picking up points soon to try and ease the nerves of fans worried by the off-field problems at the club.

Those nerves were not eased by an early injury to Gary McSheffrey which left the Sky Blues with a midfield trio of teenagers Conor Thomas, Gael Bigirimana and Josh Ruffles ahead of playmaker Sammy Clingan but the youngsters did City proud with a superb display which saw Lukas Jutkiewicz netting just after half-time.

Far from hanging on it seemed that breaking their duck in front of goal for the league season filled the visitors with confidence and they looked more likely to score a second than concede an equaliser. Where Coventry are concerned of course that means only one thing and sure enough Sean Scannell levelled it up on 90 monutes before Jermaine Easter's winner in the 7th minute of injury time.

A heartbreaking defeat for Thorn's young side and one that may be difficult to recover from in time for a game against Watford on Saturday that already has the look of a match-up between two teams battling against the drop.

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