Johannes Hoff Thorup saw an improved second-half performance from his team but it was not enough to avoid a 2-1 defeat to Burnley on Friday night in the Sky Bet Championship at Turf Moor.
The head coach explained City's approach to the game after starting with an unfamiliar back five:
"We knew down to load management that some of our normal starters could not start today so we planned to make it a more compact game and probably a little bit slower game in the first half.
"We knew that Sarge (Josh Sargent) was not able to start, we knew that Marcelino (Nùñez) was not able to start. Oscar (Schwartau) had that knock against Sunderland and could probably play 20 minutes tonight.
"So, we were lower numbers and we probably had more centre-backs available than other positions on the pitch, so that was a part of the reason why the shape."
The Dane was disappointed with the manner in which City conceded Hannibal Mejbri's opening goal:
"Of course, the first goal is not good enough - we simply have to deal with that situation. We're not at all prepared in the backlines to deal with that pass in behind.
"Then the second goal is a deflected shot from a little bit outside the box, which is really difficult to deal with.
"It comes out of absolutely nothing where we have a free-kick, but we give that pass away straight away and then of course that changes the game."
The situation at half-time forced Hoff Thorup to introduce forward Sargent earlier than expected:
"We made a plan that we will change the shape no matter what after 60 minutes, but then it turned out to be after 45 instead because of the result.
"I'm happy with the performance in the second half. I'm happy that we managed to put them under a little bit of pressure especially towards the end, but I'm also happy with the boys’ response because it's not that easy just to step onto a pitch where you're 2-0 down.
"We spoke yesterday about the plan that we have to do today because of the players available - a little bit slower first half, a little bit more compact and defensive first half and then to open the game up in the second half when we could do a couple of changes.
"Of course, they (the players) are not happy with the goals that we conceded, but they can see a lot of positives in the second-half performance. It was in many ways putting a Burnley side that is fighting for promotion under pressure in big parts of the second half and creating a lot of chances.
"I can't remember one that they had in the second half, so I think there's many positives from that."