PENALTY king Elliott Ward says the Sky Blues go into Saturday's local derby trip to Leicester City with confidence flying high.

The defender scored his first goal of the season from the spot as Iain Dowie's men caused one of the shocks of the FA Cup Third Round with an impressive 4-1 win at Premier League Blackburn.

Ward now wants a repeat performance in the Championship and says the team always felt capable of springing a surprise result in Lancashire.

He told Sky Blues World: "It was a big game for us against a good Premiership team. But after beating Manchester United and going so close against West Ham in the Carling Cup we knew we had a chance.

"We played terrific and hopefully the win can kick us on for the league because we didn't play to the levels that what we know we can reach over Christmas.

"I thought defensively we were very solid and coped very well with their front two.

"I was disappointed with the goal we conceded because it was a soft one to let in from long-range, but overall I don't think we gave them many chances over the whole game.

"Leicester will be a tough place to go but Saturday's result will give us a lot of confidence and that's important."

As for taking penalties, Ward admits Saturday's spot kick was a spur-of-the-moment thing, but hopes it won't be his last as he bids to regain a regular place in the side.

He added: "Doyler is our normal penalty taker but I asked him if I could have it and he said I could if I wanted to.

"I've have taken penalties in training so I thought it was about time I took one in a real game so thankfully it went in.

"I'd be happy to take one again, why not? But at the moment I'm concentrating more on getting my place back in the team."