The Sky Blues return to the Coventry Building Society Arena this weekend, in what Mark Robins has described as a ‘tough game’.
City entertain a Queens Park Rangers side who head into the fixture 4th in the Championship, following a run of three consecutive wins in the league.
Talking ahead of the game, the Sky Blues boss gave his thoughts on the opposition, highlighting the quality his side will come up against.
“This one is a tough game, there’s no doubt about it.” Robins said.
“They play with a set formation, but they’ll be without a few players, Ilias Chair and Osman Kakay have gone to the African Cup of Nations and they’re key individuals for them, so they are a few down, but the quality they have is immense.
“Charlie Austin scores the winner against West Brom, Lyndon Dykes and Andre Gray are all top strikers that have played at a top level and international level, and they all pose a threat.
“Willock as well, Johansen and Field have been playing together in midfield and they have a lot of good players who are top class.
“They move the ball well and they pose a threat and we have to be on our best game.”
It has been well documented that the R’s will head to Coventry with a large following, with around 4,000 supporters expected in the away end tomorrow.
Robins told how he believes that will make for a ‘decent’ atmosphere, but it doesn’t change the task his side face.
“It’s brilliant they’re flying high and they will be relishing the game and they’re looking forward to coming to see their team play against us and vice versa, so I think it will be a decent atmosphere and vocal and that’s a good thing.
“We hope we can do the game justice and attack the game when we can and make sure we’re aware of threats.
“The game is no different, we will plan for it and prepare for it, we know what their threats are and they are various, but we will set our team out to go hurt them as well.”
Earlier this week, City were able to recruit Jake Bidwell, with the defender joining on a permanent deal from Swansea City.
With ten days left of the Transfer Window, Robins discussed the chances of any more business happening before the window shuts.
“We weren’t doing anything, that was the standpoint from the club that we weren’t able to do anything, but you have to be nimble.
“So, when things come up like Jake, you have to try and be in the mix if it’s something that’s going to affect you in a positive way moving forward and Jake becoming available was something we felt like we had to do.
“We’ve kind of balanced things with Tyler Walker going out to Portsmouth, so in terms of finance, I’ve been able to make that work.
“Things need freshening up from time to time and Tyler needed to go out and play. We’ve got Waghorn coming back and we’ve got Viktor and Matty Godden and then you’ve got Fabio Tavares who is flying in the under-23s.
“Ultimately, were not looking to do anything else, but you’re always wanting to do things that can improve you as a team or as a squad.”