We must turn ugly to survive, says Coleman

Chris McCann and Steve Caldwell took advantage of weak defending in each half as Coleman lost for the first time as Ricoh Arena boss. He had won his opening match against Leicester but this display bore little resemblance to that emphatic performance.

Coleman said: 'I had a thousand calls on Saturday night and I doubt I'll be getting many after this game. The disappointing thing is we conceded two goals from set-plays and you can't do that in the position we're in. We have to be brighter, uglier and meaner when we defend as a team. We want to play football but we have to do it in the right areas.'

Burnley's win never looked in doubt once McCann scored his 20th-minute opener. His manager Owen Coyle said: 'If you do a photo-fit of a complete young midfielder, he fits the bill. He has everything in his locker.'

His goal came as Coventry appealed for a handball by Lafferty. The striker had leapt with his arm raised as Caldwell headed a corner back into the danger zone but did not appear to make contact with the ball.

James O'Connor's shot was cleared only as far as the penalty spot and McCann crashed a volley home.

Burnley failed to threaten again until five minutes from time when Caldwell was allowed a clear run to power in a header for his first goal in almost four years.

Coventry briefly threatened in a second-half spell but Elliott Ward put his header too close to Brian Jensen, who later tipped away a Michael Mifsud shot.