NATHAN Clarke predicts Ben Williams will bounce straight back from his Shrewsbury howler.

Williams handed the home side an unlikely point in a game City had dominated with a late rush of blood.

He made the decision to come out for a late free-kick – and was left stranded in no man’s land with Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro’s equaliser into an unguarded net.

Shrewsbury’s goal, from their only effort on target, was the first City had conceded in over seven-and-a-half hours. It cancelled out Jamie Proctor’s opener to deny them a fifth straight win.

But defender Clarke is convinced Williams, who has already set a club record with 24 clean sheets this term, will be back on song at Coventry tomorrow night.

Clarke said: “It’s a tough one because Ben has been fantastic throughout the season – he has certainly been one of the stand-out players.

“He was down in the dressing room afterwards but we’re a good group of lads and he’s got a great coach in Buts (Lee Butler). We’ll pick him up and move on to Coventry.

“As a back four, as a team, we thrive on those clean sheets and Ben’s kept us in games so many times with his fantastic saves.

“His organisation has been great this season and that’s credit to him because he works tremendously hard.

“He’ll be hurting but we pick each other up.”

City’s late slip did not cost them any ground in the play-off race – and they gained a point on Millwall and Gillingham, who were both beaten. The gap to Barnsley immediately outside the top six remains at five.

Clarke insists there will be no hangover from the late disappointment against Coventry, who did them a favour with their win over the fifth-placed Lions.

He added: “You’ve got to get that out your head and move on to what is going to be a tremendous game. It’s a positive the way we’re playing at the moment.

“We kept the ball tremendously well, got in some great positions and kept them on the back foot. It was good to see.

“With the recent results, the classic 1-0 has been good for us and I think we were heading towards that.

“It wasn’t to be but we’re still in such a fortunate position. It’s in our hands and we keep picking up points.

“There can’t be any feeling sorry for ourselves. We can’t afford it.

“You’ve got to be so focused and determined to pick up more points.

“We’d be letting ourselves down and the staff and fans if we don’t put on another good performance.”

Phil Parkinson shares his belief that Williams will not be dwelling on his wrong call as they prepare for the Ricoh Arena clash.

The City boss said: “Ben has been immense for us. He has been an absolute pivotal part of the season for us and will continue to do so.

“He’s been great this year when he hasn’t had a lot to do to make sure those decisions are right.

“But we could see from the bench that it was just too far to come. Maybe he might have thought it was going to carry with the wind because there was quite a strong breeze. But Ben will be fine, without a doubt.”