Mark Robins’ side welcome Swindon Town to the Ricoh Arena this weekend for a six-pointer in SkyBet League Two.
Throughout tomorrow’s game the Sky Blues will be paying tribute to former player and FA Cup winner Cyrille Regis who sadly passed away this week, aged 59.
“Tomorrow there will be a big celebration of the life of Cyrille Regis, and rightly so,” said Robins.
“I have heard the words of people who knew him better than I this week talking about how good a guy he was.
“I do not want to pretend to know him. I have played against him, I have spoken to him on the phone and I have met with him in person a number of times.
“He was honest, decent to deal with and straight forward as an agent, and as a footballer he was a powerhouse.
“I watched him growing up and I echo the words of everybody else. When I was a 14-year-old at Lilleshall we would only played on the Sunday so on the Saturday we would go and watch games in the Midlands and he was one of the players we used to watch and focus on. He was a totally different type of striker to me but a great player.”
Tomorrow’s opponents are joint on points with the Sky Blues and are only behind on goal difference. Top of the away league table, the Robins have picked up an impressive 27 points from 12 games on the road, only conceding ten along the way.
“It is big game and we are looking forward to it. They are a good team and they have some real good players. They are on form at the moment and their away form is better than anybody in the league.
“We want to play in an attacking sense and cause them real problems. We did not do enough last time out and we want to try and put that right this time out.
“Swindon have brought in a few players and spent well over January. There may be about eight or nine million pounds worth of players in that side. They hold it up well and stretch the play well and Keshi Anderson is a massive threat for them.”
Jordan Shipley has been a key player for the Sky Blues this season, earning himself a contract extension yesterday that will keep him at Sky Blue Lodge until 2020. The 20-year-old looks likely to continue his run in the side tomorrow and could be joined by Peter Vincenti, who has been back in full training since Thursday.
“The first day I came in Shipley was one of the players who caught my eye. The staff already here told me that he is a great player on the ball, but he cannot get around the pitch well enough.
“We have been making him work harder than ever and we gave him a strict pre-season routine that he has stuck to brilliantly. He has earnt his place in the team and he is contributing. He deserves his contract without any doubt.
He added: “Peter Vincenti is back on the field training with us and could be available for tomorrow, although that is probably too soon. The FA Cup tie will probably be the next one for him should I decide to not put him on the bench tomorrow.
“Liam Kelly will hopefully be joining us back in training on Monday.”