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THE result was the bottom line, but director of rugby Rowland Winter acknowledged that Coventry were some way below their best in yesterday’s 31-24 win at Loughborough Students.

Forced into a late change when George Oram was injured in the warm-up, Cov recovered from a slow start to take maximum points from the game but were never able to shake off a determined home side.

“It was a difficult game and very similar to when we came here at the end of last season,” said Winter.

“We had to change the team after a mishap in the warm-up and we struggled to get going. It ruffled us a little bit.

“A win is a win and we got the five points, although it wasn’t the standard we are used to or expect from the team.

“We’ve got a bit of work to do get that form back for next week, but we’re happy to come here away from home and win in the circumstances.

“Credit to Loughborough, they found gaps and little chinks in our armour – they’ve got four or five in there who are going to be very good players, I am sure, at some point soon.

“Perhaps we didn’t get the reward we could have done in certain areas, but Loughborough challenged us for the whole 80 minutes.

“We’ve got to move on, five points were what we needed and what we got, but we’ve got to step up and be in a better position than that next week.”