On the night they appeared on the brink of selling yet another of their prize assets, Coventry revived their hopes of a return to the Premiership with their first home victory since before Christmas. But after Chris Sedgwick's 20-yard shot was blocked by goalkeeper Marcus Hedman, the striker Alan Lee struck the rebound wide of the empty net.When a similar chance fell to the Coventry substitute Lee Hughes three minutes into stoppage time, the former West Bromwich striker drilled in his ninth goal of the season after Mike Pollitt had failed to hold a drive by Colin Healy.Both sides had been forced to replace key midfielders, Rotherham having lost their captain Kevin Watson due to a stomach bug, while Carsley was missing through an unspecified illness.The Republic of Ireland midfielder had earlier seen his proposed £1.5m move to Everton put on hold. Carsley's absence made way for the return of the Moroccan midfielder Youssef Safri, back from African Nations' Cup duties, but the more significant change to the home side's line-up saw winger David Thompson returning from a three match suspension.Thompson went close to giving his team a 29th minute lead, expertly curling in a 20-yard free-kick which Pollitt brilliantly turned over the bar. Four minutes later Lee Mills fired a 20-yard effort inches wide of the near post.Pollitt then had to save a goal bound header by Konjic from Thompson's 40th-minute corner. Three minutes before the interval Thompson again went close, driving an angled shot into the side netting.As Coventry maintained their pressure following the break, Mills unluckily sent a 50th-minute header just wide and Thompson struck a low shot past the near post. The visitors were relying on breakaways to mount attacks, but they almost took the lead in the 61st minute.

From a cross by winger Chris Sedgwick to the far post, Lee headed goalwards but Hedman pushed the ball over the bar. Hughes, surprisingly dropped from the starting line-up, forced Pollitt into a good blocking save from a 75th minute shot.Coventry City (4-4-2): Hedman; Quinn, Breen (Davenport, 54), Konjic, Hall; Delorge, Safri, Healy, Thompson; Mills, Bothroyd (Hughes, 63). Substitutes not used: McSheffrey, Montgomerie (gk), Betts.Rotherham United (4-4-2): Pollitt; Scott, Swailes, McIntosh, Hurst; Warne (Monkhouse, 82), Mullin, Talbot (Daws, 77), Sedgwick; Lee, Robins (Barker, 77). Substitutes not used: Gray (gk), Branston.Referee: G Cain (Bootle).. Martin O'Neill, the Celtic manager, believes the return of Didier Agathe was partial compensation for the pain of Tuesday night's defeat in the Old Firm derby. The winger was outstanding in his side's 2-1 defeat by Rangers in extra time during the semi-final of the CIS Insurance Cup. It was Agathe's first game since suffering a leg injury against Hearts on 17 November.

O'Neill said: "Didier Agathe epitomised what this football club has been about."He played an hour the day before the game and said on the morning he was feeling fine. I said 'give us a half' and he proceeded to play the whole game He was just out on his feet most of the extra time. But he was willing to stay on the pitch and never ever complained. I thought he was magnificent."O'Neill added: "Chris Sutton coming on was a big plus so there were two big pluses but there were more than just two. We were great."The result meant Celtic's dreams of back-to-back trebles were ended and, although they look certain to retain the title at least Rangers can claim that they are now the only club in Scotland capable of completing the treble this season.The CIS Insurance Cup is the least prestigious of Scotland's three major trophies but O'Neill insisted the defeat hurt He said: "On the night we were desperately unlucky.

But you know my feelings about that – ifs, buts and maybes; keep them out of the equation We have plenty more to play for I'm not dismissing it either. I was so disappointed to be beaten."So were the players and, naturally, our supporters but I don't think I have one complaint about their effort."Rangers' victory ended the five-game Old Firm losing run that Alex McLeish had inherited from Dick Advocaat. Celtic had not won six on the trot since 1972 when Jock Stein was in charge and McLeish had gone into his first Glasgow derby in the knowledge that no new Ibrox manager had lost his debut since John Greig in 1978.McLeish said: "There are a lot of exterior pressures that I can't do anything about, the media hype. I tried to keep away from those pressures and I felt reasonably calm before and during the game, most of the time."The win came at a cost, with Craig Moore taken off with a leg injury and Ronald de Boer concussed by Bobo Balde. Lorenzo Amoruso had also been hurt near the end of the 90 minutes but recovered to complete the extra half-hour.At that point McLeish had already sent on Tony Vidmar, the only defender on the bench, to replace Moore, so a reshuffle featuring Stephen Hughes was expected until the Italian made it clear he would play on.McLeish said: "We were preparing for big Lorenzo to come off, although I must say it was fantastic to see him walking back on the pitch again Craig has done a hamstring so we paid a price Ronald took a head knock and was dizzy at half-time.". Jim McLean's return to Dundee United as a director has been given the approval of the Scottish Football Association, but he will have to wait until March to find out if he will be punished following an alleged assault on the BBC reporter, John Barnes. A major shareholder at the Tayside club, McLean resigned in October 2000 following an alleged assault on Barnes but returned last month as part of a four-man consortium.