Frank Lampard said he was grateful for his team's work ethic after Coventry ended a four-game losing streak to claim their first Premier League win for 25 years.
Jay Dasilva's second-half strike was enough for a 1-0 victory at Nottingham Forest after Igor Jesus' late equaliser was controversially ruled out by VAR.
"Having lost our first four games, all in different circumstances, I think it's easy to to feel negative, to feel like 'Where's the goal, where's the win coming from?'" Lampard told Sky Sports.
"And the reality is in football you have to fight for it, you have to work for it, you have to have organisation. I could go through so many players today, how they individually work within the collective.
"You make your own luck in terms of VAR. I think it is a foul, but I think when you work that hard, the boys deserve it."
Unlike fellow newly-promoted side Ipswich Town, Coventry's squad is short on top-flight experience -- only three of Saturday's starting lineup had played a Premier League before this season.
"We're a team with a lot of players that have come in and are playing their first stint of Premier League football, and I think it's human nature," Lampard said.
"You can't expect them to come in ... Not everyone's a Wayne Rooney or these superstars who just own it.
"You know, they've worked hard in their careers to get here. We're trying to get that out of them, and I think when they play like they did today, you can see that."
Coventry host Newcastle in their next game, after the three-week international break.
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