Gordon Strachan should have no problems picking his eleven for the game with Aston Villa on Saturday after the Sky Blues second string turned in a very poor performance.

The side, currently topping the league, failed to rise above the opposition despite fielding a strong side and could have lost the game after a lucky second half escape.

The presence of John Aloisi, Mo Konjic, Gary Breen, Marc Edworthy and Stefano Gioacchini couldn’t inspire the Sky Blues to stretch their lead at the top of the table.

And there was bad news for Gioacchini who limped off in the first half with a hamstring strain and is unlikely to feature against Aston Villa on Saturday.

He and Aloisi combined well in the 12^th minute to set up Barry Quinn but the young Irishman’s low shot was saved by Frank Kval in the Burnley goal.

Gioacchini then showed some wonderful skill 11 minutes later to put his strike partner away clear but Aloisi’s shot was against kept out by Kval.

Burnley did have their chances and midfielder Gareth West fired just past the post late in the first half.

The second half was turgid stuff. Neither side really managed flowing football on a pitch which is rapidly deteriorating and Coventry struggled to mount any worthwhile attacks.

The Sky Blues also had to survive a serious scare when Steve Ogrizovic missed a corner and Chris Barnett was forced to hack the ball off the line. It flew straight to West but his follow-up effort struck a post.