Coventry City are hoping that Tuesday night's East Anglian revival can help kick-start their entire campaign.

When the Sky Blues were undone by two set-pieces to go 2-0 down to Ipswich Town, three days after Saturday's 4-1 home defeat by Crystal Palace, it seemed as if Coventry's season was in danger of falling completely apart.

But the spirited response started by Gary McSheffrey's reply before the break was completed when Lilian Nalis hit his side's equaliser and assistant manager Adrian Heath was pleased with the attitude shown from the dressing room.

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"We've had a bit of stick over the last couple of weeks so it was nice to come back from two goals down and show that we've got a bit of character. We don't throw the towel in," he said.

"We even felt a little bit disappointed by the end because we looked the more likely to take the three points. and we couldn't quite work out why Gary McSheffrey had another goal disallowed late on.

" But, on the whole, although we were 2-0 down without Stephen Bywater having had a save to make, we've got to be pleased with the way we came back into the game to get a point.

"I'm just so pleased for the players that they've got something out of it because we've put a lot of effort in lately for nothing."

Heath was especially pleased for McSheffrey, who hit only his second league goal of the season and his 50th in professional football on his first start of the season in attack. "It was a good finish," said Heath. "It's pleasing for him to get a goal, as he's been hankering to get back up front and that will have done his confidence a great deal of good."

McSheffrey's performance will certainly have silenced one or two critics and, in that respect, it was also an important result for another recent target of the fans' wrath, skipper Stephen Hughes.

Angry words were exchanged following Hughes' half-time substitution against Palace but, having cleared the air with Micky Adams, the Coventry manager got the response he had hoped for, as Hughes turned in one of his best displays for the club. n Port Vale have rejected a takeover bid from a consortium who the current board believe planned to install Paul Gascoigne as manager.

Club vice-chairman Dave Smith revealed talks had been held over a possible deal but that the discussionshad broken down. Smith, who expressed his backing for manager Martin Foyle, said: "These talks were covered by a confidentiality agreement but, in view of press reports, we consider we are honour-bound to clarify the matter for supporters.

"Talks took place between the club and a consortium who wanted to buy a controlling interest in Port Vale. This consortium were also having similar discussions with a number of other clubs.

"We understood that one of the conditions was that Paul Gascoigne became team manager. This was unacceptable because of our confidence in and loyalty to the current management team."