Burnley might have seen Andy Gray leave this weekend but Clarets manager Owen Coyle was looking on the bright side after a 2-1 win at Coventry.Gray travelled to Charlton to tie up a £1.5million transfer after telling Coyle he was not in the right state of mind to face the Sky Blues.

But goals from Ade Akinbiyi and Robbie Blake reassured Coyle that the future was bright at Turf Moor as he planned to spend the Gray transfer fee on strengthening his squad.

He said: "The money's certainly not going to sit and lie there - I'll be spending it. Never at any point did we want to lose Andy - it could have been handled better by others perhaps.

"Before there had even been a bid, Andy came to see me and knew exactly what he was going to be earning.

"I can understand it to a degree because he is 30 years old and this represented a financial security for his family

"I have always said I would rather play a 16-year-old who wants to wear the shirt than someone whose heart is not in it."

Coventry manager Iain Dowie was left frustrated after his 10-man side slipped to a third league defeat in a row.

Kevin Kyle, in his first start since returning from a three-match ban, was sent off in the second half after a mistimed challenge resulted in his second yellow card.

Dowie said: "It was a poor decision from Kevin when he is already on a yellow card. He's right to have fire in his belly but he needs to have ice in his head at the same time.

"It cost us the match. I thought we played and responded well to the sending off and even late in the match we were still pushing, trying to create chances."

Dowie's disappointment was compounded by the news that striker Leon Best has handed in a transfer request, following interest from his home-town club Nottingham Forest.

Dowie said: "I am not going to hang him out to dry but it doesn't help us. We'll have to wait and see what happens, but I will recommend that the request is rejected."

Burnley took the lead in the 10th minute when Wade Elliott played a low cross into the box and Akinbiyi fired his shot from eight yards out and Dimitrios Konstantopoulos could not keep it out.

Coventry grabbed their equaliser after a goalmouth scramble in the 25th minute when Michael Hughes' shot bounced off goalkeeper Brian Jensen and into a cluster of players. Michael Doyle was first to the ball and blasted it into the roof of the net.

Coventry could not contain Burnley's attacks and Joey Gudjonsson fed in Blake who calmly fired home to earn the away side victory.

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