The Swans head coach was clear that football offers “no moral victories” and that his players must start turning promise into points.
The Portuguese left the Coventry Building Society Arena empty-handed despite Swansea producing one of their more assured displays of the season against a side sitting top of the table.
"I think there is plenty we can take from the performance," said Matos.
"But there are always things we can improve and one of those is how clinical we need to be in these situations, and we had this feeling against Stoke, too.
"When you face a really good team like Coventry, who are top of the league, you need to make the most of your chances.”
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Ephron Mason-Clark’s close-range finish from a long throw just before half-time ultimately decided the contest, allowing Coventry to extend their lead at the summit.
Zan Vipotnik spurned a presentable chance before the break, and after the restart both Melker Widell and Liam Cullen were unable to convert opportunities that might have earned Swansea a deserved share of the spoils.
With clubs below them picking up points, the Swans have dropped to 20th in the table – only four points clear of the relegation zone - having suffered a fifth successive away defeat.
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Matos added: "We needed to keep dominating the game, and the goal came from a moment where we were not dominating the game and we need to do better in these periods because that is a key to getting the result.
"In the second half we came out well again and tried to create chances, and we can take something from the performance.
"There are no moral victories in football or in sport, so we can take the positives from the performance but we have to make sure we start to turn that into results."
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The defeat mirrored a recent pattern for Swansea, who also impressed without reward at Stoke.
For Coventry, the victory was far from straightforward but highly valuable.
Mason-Clark’s goal secured a ninth home league win of the campaign and stretched their advantage at the top of the table to eight points, with a commanding 13-point cushion over the chasing pack.
However, the Sky Blues were made to work harder than usual and were perhaps fortunate to lead at the interval.
Coventry faded after a brief spell of pressure early in the second half and struggled to impose themselves against Swansea’s organised approach.
Manager Frank Lampard admitted his side were below their usual standards, particularly without the ball, but praised their ability to grind out a result.
"Over the course of the season there are games you play where everything goes in and others where you have chances and it doesn't quite drop or go in," said Lampard.
"We had chances to get that second goal but it didn't quite fall. We were not as good today as we usually are off the ball.
"We were more passive today and we gave them the feeling that they could play. They are a good team and they can play and find passes through us. We had to address that at half-time and we did that in the second half.
"We had to find other parts of our game today and keep a clean sheet. They gave us a tough game and I am really pleased with the result."
While Coventry march on in their bid to return to the Premier League for the first time in 25 years, Swansea are left reflecting on another performance that suggested progress but delivered no points.
