The Sky Blues went down 3-2 to Plymouth Argyle in a thrilling encounter in front of the Sky cameras. A first Coventry goal for Michael Mifsud was not enough to condemn City to defeat at Home Park.

On a cold evening on the south coast, the Sky Blues found themselves 1-0 down when Kevin Gallen hit a low shot past Steele on 18 minutes. Minutes later Chris Birchall levelled the score with a simple tap in after good work from Jay Tabb and Stern John. Coventry then fell behind again when Akos Buzsaky hit a great shot from the edge of the penalty area to make the score 2-1 in favour of Plymouth.

Minutes after the restart the Pilgrims took a 3-1 lead through Barry Hayles and with 20 minutes left on the clock Mifsud hit a delightful volley to give the Sky Blues hope but it was not enough to claim a draw.

Caretaker boss Adrian Heath made four changes to the side that lost against Bristol City.

David McNamee returned to the Coventry side after being sidelined with a hamstring injury since October, the former Livingston player replaced Ben Turner. The change saw McNamee come in at right-back and Marcus Hall switch to centre-back alongside Robert Page. Andrew Whing played at left-back.

Stephen Hughes replaced Isaac Osbourne in central midfield and Birchall came in for the injured Leon McKenzie, who is suffering from a slight thigh strain.

Up front for the Sky Blues was the pairing of Stern John and Dele Adebola, the combination saw Kevin Kyle drop to the bench.

Michael Mifsud returned to the bench after being ineligible for the cup tie against the Robins.

With the match being delayed by 15 minutes due to power failure it was taking both sides a while to get into the game but the first attempt at goal went in the way of Plymouth. Former Sky Blue Lilian Nalis hit a long range effort wide with 11 minutes on the clock.

Seven minutes later the Sky Blues went 1-0 down when debutant Gallen found the back of the net with a weak shot which somehow went under the body of keeper Luke Steele. The former QPR player was picked out by striker Barry Hayles who turned and found Gallen on the edge of the six-yard box.

Minutes later City were level when John found Jay Tabb with a beautiful cross field ball, Tabb picked out Birchall with a square pass across the penalty area and the Trinidad and Tobago international coolly slotted the ball home from six yards out.

The match was beginning to liven up and flow nicely from end to end before Adebola went close on 27 minutes when McNamee charged forwards from defence and found Adebola with an acute through ball but the pass just had too much weight on it which the goalkeeper comfortably dealt with on the edge of the area.

Disaster struck for City on 32 minutes when Buzsaky finished with aplomb from the edge of penalty area. The Hungarian international had plenty of time and space to pick his spot and made no mistake with a low shot to the left of Steele.

The referee was beginning to get somewhat card happy when he booked Whing and Doyle in quick succession. Plymouth were beginning to take the game by the scruff of the neck and nearly took a 3-1 lead when Buzsaky dispossessed Page and consequently found Gallen but the striker could only fire his shot over the bar on 41 minutes.

Moments later Birchall nearly levelled the score when he forced McCormick into a great save, the midfielder struck a fierce shot which forced the shot stopper into a diving save.

The Sky Blues began the second half badly when Hayles made the score 3-1 to the Pilgrims after two minutes of the restart. Some neat build up play from Plymouth and in particular Buzsaky found the striker who struck a fantastic shot from the edge of the penalty area into the top right hand corner which left Steele could do nothing about.

The goal prompted Adrian Heath into making a double substitution with Mifsud and Thornton replacing Tabb and Birchall on 62 minutes. City were beginning to feel the force of Ian Holloway's men and Hayles came close to getting his second of the evening when he headed wide of goal after escaping his marker.

A comeback was on the cards when Mifsud bagged his first goal for Coventry City with 20 minutes left on the clock. The Maltese striker struck a fine volley from just inside the area to make it 3-2. The diminutive player had been a constant threat and reaped his reward with the sweet strike.

The double substitution was certainly proving to be inspired one when Thornton went agonisingly close with a long range free-kick on 74 minutes. The match was getting lively and Norris forced Steele into a point blank save after Plymouth counter attack.

Ian Holloway handed debuts to Rory Fallon and Scott Sinclair respectively on 76 and 81 minutes in place of Halmosi and Buzsaky.

A late rally from Coventry came and went but there was no way through a resilient Plymouth defence.

Plymouth Argyle: McCormick; Nalis; Aljofreee; Norris; Buzsaky (Ebanks-Blake, 81); Hayles (Fallon, 81); Halmosi (Sinclair 76); Gallen; Sawyer; Seip; Connelly

Subs not used: Hodges; Summerfield;

Coventry: Steele; Whing; Hall; Hughes; Doyle; Adebola; John; Birchall (Thornton, 62); Tabb (Mifsud, 62); McNamee

Subs not used: Lee-Barrett; Virgo; Kyle

Attendance: 9841 (262 away)

Bookings: Page (4), Whing (34), Doyle (36), Thornton (87), Sawyer (90)