The Sky Blues are out of the Carling Cup at the fourth round stage after a last minute strike from Carlton Cole handed West Ham a narrow victory at the Ricoh Arena.

Iain Dowie's men performed gallantly throughout and were well worth the lead when Jay Tabb headed in at the back post early in the second-half.

But Marcus Hall deflected Luis Boa Morte's cross into his own net to ensure a quick reply for the visitors before Cole struck after latching onto a long ball forward deep into stoppage time.

City started brightly as boss Dowie reverted to the attack-minded 4-3-3 formation which worked to great success at Old Trafford in round three.

Jay Tabb replaced Kevin Kyle in the only chance to the side victorious over Colchester four days earlier with Michael Mifsud shifting upfield to form a three-man strike-force alongside Best and Julian Gray.

That attacking intent was certainly evident in the opening exchanges as Arjan de Zeeuw glanced a header wide from an Isaac Osbourne cross and Gray headed straight at Hammers' goalkeeper Richard Wright inside the opening 15 minutes.

West Ham seemed happy to catch the hosts on the counter attack with a teasing George McCartney cross from a dangerous breakaway halted by a fine sliding intervention from Ben Turner.

But it was at the other where the action continued to flow as Mifsud danced past a defender before seeing his shot cannon into the back of Matthew Upson.

And City went agonisingly close to opening the scoring midway through the half when Best twisted away from his marker in the area and fired a low effort at goal from an acute angle only for the slightest of touches from Wright diverting the ball around the post.

The visitors felt they were denied a clear goalscoring opportunity as referee Rob Styles waved play on when Luis Boa Morte fell under the challenge of a back-tracking Ben Turner on the edge of the area.

West Ham remained on the back-footas the Sky Blues began the second-half in a similar fashion to how they'd started the first with Tabb firing over before a speculative effort from Best also flew too high from 20-yards.

They thought their moment of glory had arrived on the hour mark when Mifsud found space in the area and steered the ball beyond Wright, but the assistant referee promptly raised his flag for offside against the tricky Maltese international.

But there was certainly no doubt eight minutes later as Tabb ghosted in at the back-post to nod home Osbourne's floated ball into the danger area.

However, West Ham found themselves back on level terms just four minutes later when Boa Morte's shot across the face of goal was turned into his own net by the luckless Hall.

That sparked the Premier League outfit into action and they wasted a great opportunity to take the lead when full-back George McCartney skewed into the side-netting with the goal gaping at the back-post.

City seemed to have weathered the storm and could have regained the lead shortly after when substitute Kevin Kyle dragged an effort wide.

But with extra-time looming, Cole outmuscled Turner and confidently found the bottom corner of the net to give Alan Curbishley's side a rather undeserved passage into the quarter-finals of the competition.

STATS

Coventry City 1 Tabb (68)

West Ham 2 Hall (72 og), Cole (90)

Coventry: Marshall, McNamee, de Zeeuw, Turner, Hall, Osbourne, Doyle (c), Tabb, Gray (Simpson, 46), Mifsud, Best (Kyle, 70). Subs (Not Used): Ward, Cairo, Thornton.

Booked: Osbourne (foul)

West Ham: Wright, Neill (c), Ferdinand (Gabbidon, 85), Upson, McCartney, Noble (Pantsil, 61), Bowyer, Mullins (Spector, 46), Etherington, Boa Morte, Cole. Subs (Not Used): Green (GK), Reid.

Booked: McCartney (foul), Neill (dissent), Spector (foul)

Attendance: 23,968 (4,470 West Ham)