Blackburn Rovers' unbeaten start to the Championship season came to a disappointing end as they were beaten 2-0 at Coventry City.

It was another disappointing midweek trip for Rovers as they were beaten at this ground for the third successive year. In truth, it was a tepid performance in which they were second best.

John Eustace would've stressed the importance of a quick start considering Coventry's poor form coming into the fixture. But instead, they gave them the perfect tonic with the lead after 11 minutes.

Jake Bidwell got between two Rovers markers to head in from a wide free-kick. He met the delivery and looped his effort over a helpless Aynsley Pears.

Rovers mustered very little in the way of a response and allowed Coventry to grow into the game. The hosts were the dominant side, even though they didn't open the visitors up at will.

The Sky Blues had more pace, power and athleticism, something Rovers starting XI was lacking. Without a focal point, they couldn't find a route back into the contest.

Things got worse after half-time when a poor pass from Tyrhys Dolan gave the ball away in a dangerous area and Hadji Wright punished them with an emphatic finish.

Despite pushing for a goal to reduce the arrears, Coventry always looked the more likely. Having hit the bar, they then made sure of the points by adding a third.

Brandon Thomas-Asante found room at the edge of the area and found the bottom corner. Pears got a hand on the shot but couldn't keep it out, compounding a difficult night for Rovers.

Rovers' last two trips to the CBS Arena had both followed similar patterns. Tight contests that the visitors had fallen on the wrong side of, losing 1-0 on each midweek occasion.

To try and change that run, Cantwell was rewarded for his impressive second-half display at the weekend, coming in as the only change. Ryan Hedges dropped to the bench, with an eye on protecting him with three games in a week, whilst Arnor Sigurdsson returned to the bench after illness.

Rovers had displayed several different sides in their three away draws. A comeback, a defiant 'digging in' and one slight disappointment. The hope was Cantwell could add some finesse and quality in the final third to change that pattern.

Coventry had failed to live up to their pre-season expectations. Having started slowly with one win in their first eight in each of the two last seasons, only beating Rovers would prevent that statistic stretching into a third year.

The Sky Blues, unsurprisingly, rang the changes with Mark Robins keen to inspire a response after their passive performance at Leeds United, in which they were beaten 3-0.

Rovers almost made the perfect start to add to the host's woes. Dolan skipped past Bobby Thomas at the touchline but his cross was inches away from Yuki Ohashi in the middle.

Coventry were then rocked by a serious-looking injury to winger Tatsuhiro Sakamoto after a fairly innocuous challenge on Dolan. The Japanese winger was stretchered off and replaced by Ephron Mason-Clark.

However, minutes later, the Sky Blues took the lead. A wide free-kick was whipped in and Bidwell found himself between two markers to head over the goalkeeper and in.

11' on the clock and Rovers' hope of a fourth-successive clean sheet was over. Unsurprisingly, Coventry grew in confidence after that early opener and looked the better side.

Ben Sheaf dominated the centre of midfield with Rovers struggling to find routes out of defence and into the feet of their star men. Cantwell went searching for possession but saw very little of the ball.

When Rovers did have their best periods, it was usually link-up down the left from Cantwell and Dolan. Whilst they had brief spells of pressure, they never really looked like testing Ben Wilson.

Instead, it was Coventry who looked the more threatening without creating a huge deal. Jack Rudoni's shot from the edge of the box was pushed around the post by Pears in their only other chance of note in the first half.

Eustace resisted the urge for change at half-time but his side got off to the worst possible start as they conceded again. 

It was a gift from Rovers after a loose pass from Dolan put the defence under pressure. Wright then picked up the ball, dipped inside and fired it clinically into the back of the net.

The visitors tried to find a route back into the game and forced Wilson into his first save of the match through Andi Weimann. The Austrian picked up the ball at the back post but his powerful shot was too central.

It wasn't until 72nd minute that the cavalry arrived despite Rovers' lack of threat throughout the match. But it was still the hosts who were coming closer to adding to the scoreline.

A lightning-quick counter-attack saw Mason-Clark feed Jack Rudoni but his cross hit Dom Hyam and looped up agonisingly. Fortunately, it came back off the crossbar with the goalkeeper beaten.

Rovers' attempts at halving the deficit were limp and Coventry put the game to bed with ten minutes to go. Thomas-Asante found room on the edge of the box and his shot found the bottom corner. On reflection, Pears might have hoped to have done better but the damage was already done.

Whilst there will be no hysterics or alarm bells at Rovers, this was a very disappointing night. The issues presented at Deepdale weren't addressed and Rovers again struggled to impose themselves on an away fixture.

Eustace will be frustrated at the manner his team gave a low-confidence Coventry side a leg up. They then capitalised on sloppy errors and Rovers had little in the way of a response.

The wait for an away league win continues and Rovers will need to muster a response at Plymouth Argyle on Saturday. When they've had a setback, they've generally responded under Eustace and that needs to be the case this time too.