The Sky Blues conceded three goals in the space of nine first half minutes on the way to a disappointing home defeat to Crystal Palace.

Carl Fletcher, Shefki Kuqi, Leon McCort and Jobi McAnuff netted in the opening period and strikes from Leon McKenzie and Kevin Kyle either side of the break were not enough for the Sky Blues.

Marcus Hall returned to the team at left-back while Jay Tabb replaced the injured Colin Cameron on the right-hand side of midfield, while Stephen Hughes started in the middle of the park for the suspended Michael Doyle. Up front, Stern John replaced Dele Adebola, with new signing Michael Mifsud starting on the bench.

City started confidently, passing the ball around smartly and keeping the visitors on the back foot, without really testing goalkeeper Scott Flinders although a great move in the ninth minute almost gave the Sky Blues the lead with Hall whipping in a delightful low cross that John got a flick onto, only for his effort to go narrowly wide of the far post.

But in the 19th minute Palace went ahead with their first shot on goal as Fletcher burst through the middle and managed to reach the ball before Virgo, to stab his shot past Luke Steele, who got something on it but could not prevent the ball from going on.

Two minutes later and City were unfortunate not to be on level terms when Kyle rose to head an accurate McKenzie cross onto the crossbar.

But in the 26th minute Palace went 2-0 up through Kuqi, who responded quickest to a fine point blank save by Steele after Virgo had headed towards his own goal, and headed into the roof of the net. And it took just another two minutes for the Eagles to go three up, this time Leon Cort heading Jobi McAnuff's cross home, with City's defence at sixes and sevens.

It was a remarkable turnaround as the Sky Blues had bossed the vast majority of the opening 20 minutes, but once again raised serious question marks about the strength of City's defence, which shipped three goals in seven minutes last week and three in nine today.

It really looked like it wasn't Coventry's day when Kyle hit the woodwork again with ten minutes remaining in the first half, this time connecting with a Hughes corner.

And once again, City's fragility was exposed when Palace broke upfield rapidly and McAnuff headed a fourth from a precise Stuart Green cross.

Just before half time McKenzie pulled a goal back for the Sky Blues to give them some glimmer of hope. They had shown an ability to battle back last week at Ashton Gate and would have to demonstrate even greater resolve if they were to get their way out of this mess.

At the interval Micky Adams brought Chris Birchall on for Virgo who had really struggled to come to terms with the pace of the game. It meant a re-shuffle with Birchall coming in at right-back, Whing swapping to the left and Marcus Hall slotting into the centre of the rearguard.

And in the 56th minute, Kyle pulled another one back for the Sky Blues, heading home from McKenzie's ball into the six yard box, for a goal that the Scotsman definitely deserved after his poor luck in the opening 45.

With 20 minutes left on the clock Adams made another switch, bringing on new boy Mifsud for McKenzie. He instantly showed a calmness in possession allied with a good touch as City looked for another goal.

Whing tested Flinders with an acrobatic scissor kick from 18 yards before Kyle did well to nod a deep cross back into the six-yard box only for there to be no teammate available to tap the ball in.

Mifsud then had a decent shot from all of 30 yards which Flinders gathered well.

On the positive side, City battled well after going four goals down, but the priority for Micky Adams and the players will be to eradicate the defensive errors which can see the Sky Blues go from a team in control to one trailing heavily in such a short space of time.

Coventry City: Steele; Whing; Hall; Page; Hughes; Kyle; John; McKenzie (71); Osbourne; Tabb; Virgo (Birchall 46). Subs (not used): Lee-Barrett; Adebola; Mifsud; Turner

Booked: Page (23)

Crystal Palace: Flinders; Lawrence; Ward; Hudson; Cort; McAnuff; Freedman; Kennedy; Fletcher; Green (Soares 76); Kuqi. Subs (not used): Wilkinson; Morrison; Butterfield; Ifill

Referee: Mr G Laws

Attendance: 16,582 (1,360)