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Mark Robins said his Coventry City side needed a fantastic performance to beat Middlesbrough and book their place in the Wembley play-off final, but in summing up the game after, he highlighted where it had gone wrong for Michael Carrick's side.
The two sides were ultimately separated by just one goal after two legs in the Championship play-off semi-final. Gustavo Hamer's excellent finish set the Sky Blues on their way to the national stadium, where they will meet Luton Town for promotion to the Premier League.
As for Boro, the reflecting and the planning starts now, as they look to analyse what went wrong in the play-offs, what went right to get to that point in the first place, and most importantly, what they need to do in the future to ensure they can compete again next year.
READ MORE: Michael Carrick's pride despite the disappointment of play-off heartbreak for Middlesbrough
In terms of summing up where it went wrong for Boro on the night, Robins' post-match analysis was a fair summary. He said: “It had to be [a fantastic performance] because we were playing against a top, top team. I think that is the longest game of my career and it didn’t even go to extra time.
"It just shows you the quality of the opponent, and to beat them over the two legs, with two clean sheets, it’s a testament to the boys. You could tell how much they wanted it, but you could also tell how much Middlesbrough wanted it. The atmosphere was phenomenal, and we had to deal with that as well, which I thought we did pretty well.
The two sides were ultimately separated by just one goal after two legs in the Championship play-off semi-final. Gustavo Hamer's excellent finish set the Sky Blues on their way to the national stadium, where they will meet Luton Town for promotion to the Premier League.
As for Boro, the reflecting and the planning starts now, as they look to analyse what went wrong in the play-offs, what went right to get to that point in the first place, and most importantly, what they need to do in the future to ensure they can compete again next year.
READ MORE: Michael Carrick's pride despite the disappointment of play-off heartbreak for Middlesbrough
In terms of summing up where it went wrong for Boro on the night, Robins' post-match analysis was a fair summary. He said: “It had to be [a fantastic performance] because we were playing against a top, top team. I think that is the longest game of my career and it didn’t even go to extra time.
"It just shows you the quality of the opponent, and to beat them over the two legs, with two clean sheets, it’s a testament to the boys. You could tell how much they wanted it, but you could also tell how much Middlesbrough wanted it. The atmosphere was phenomenal, and we had to deal with that as well, which I thought we did pretty well.