Liam Kelly is ready for a “battle” when the Sky Blues travel to Doncaster Rovers in Sky Bet League One on Saturday afternoon.
The captain expects a tough match against Darren Moore’s side, having drawn 1-1 in the reverse fixture back in September.
Kelly also praised the club’s recent run of form which has seen City go six games unbeaten in all competitions.
Kelly said: “It’s going to be a tough game because they’re a very good side who play good football. It was a very good game when they played us earlier in the season.
“We’re under no illusions as to how tough it’s going to be but we’re ready for the battle and ready for the fight and we want to go there and get a result tomorrow.
“Every team has a different style of play, all teams play to their strengths and what suits them.
“Hopefully, it will be a good game tomorrow, we know it’s going to be tough. We just need to concentrate on ourselves because when we perform and play to our strengths, we’re a very tough team to play against.
“We’re on a good run of form, the performances have been good, the results have been good, we’re sitting well-placed in the league, but we can’t rest on what we’ve done.
“There’s a lot of games to come and we want to try and achieve something this season so we have to keep looking forward and trying to progress, improve performances, improve results, which will hopefully lead to a successful season for us.”
The skipper admits the Sky Blues weren’t at their best against Milton Keynes Dons in their last league outing but was pleased with the response against Bristol Rovers in mid-week.
“There’s no easy games in this league, fair play to MK Dons, on the day they were good, their league position is a little bit false because they are a good team.
“On the day we weren’t at our best, we’ve set the standard higher than that, but we managed put things right with the Bristol Rovers performance and we’ll try and continue that against Doncaster this weekend.”
Having made five changes for the cup tie in mid-week, Kelly believes there’s plenty of strength in depth in the squad and singled out Josh Pask, Callum O’Hare and Jamie Allen for their performances on Tuesday night.
“You look at Callum, Pasky and Jamie that have come in, they’re all fantastic players and all performed really well on the night.
“We know if we have injuries, suspensions, or a loss of form there’s plenty of strength of depth to come in and fill those spaces.
“Josh has been massively unlucky with injuries, but he showed just how strong and powerful he is and how much quality he’s got against Bristol Rovers.
“He’s a danger from set-pieces as well, he’s that strong and that explosive and that good in the air that he’s a real threat and hopefully he can contribute in the final few months of the season.
“The competition gives you confidence, particularly in my position, we’re a team and we want to achieve something together.
“Someone like Jamie or Callum can come in, full of energy and full of quality, it must be really hard to play against, when they get into those pockets of space, I wouldn’t want to play against them two.”
O’Hare in particular came in for plenty of rough treatment from the opposition which Kelly says is testament to the quality the on-loan Aston Villa player possesses.
“You always mention player protection to the referee, that’s just how Callum plays, you think you’re going to win the ball from him, and he just gets there in the nick of time and you end up catching him.
“He’s a fantastic player and his performance on Tuesday night was really good. When you see him come on in games you’ve always got confidence that he’s going to create a goal or score a goal. I’m sure he’s chomping at the bit to get in the starting line-up.”
That win means the Sky Blues will meet Birmingham City in the next round of the competition which Kelly believes will be a fantastic cup tie.
“It’s going to be a fantastic tie, for both sets of supporters it’s going to be a bit of a strange one.
“It’s going to be a great day, a great occasion, and hopefully we can go and put on a show and we’re confident we can put ourselves in the next round.”