Sky Blues boss Mark Robins said his side will ‘embrace’ the challenge that they will face when they come up against Middlesbrough on Sunday.
City entertain Michael Carrick’s Boro side in the first leg of the Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Semi-Finals this weekend at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
The two sides played out a 1-1 draw at the Riverside Stadium as early as five days ago and now get set for two more fixtures over the next few days.
Heading into the game, Robins mentioned how his side had overcome the odds to get into the top six, but they haven’t achieved anything yet.
Focusing on the play-offs…
“People will say what a great season it’s been, but that was for last week. I’m echoing the words of Michael Carrick. He came out and said they’ve achieved nothing yet and that’s right.
“Everyone sees that we’re in the play-offs and I don’t think many people would have given us a chance of doing that earlier in the season and we’ve had to overcome so many obstacles along the way and I think getting into the play-offs is fully deserved.
“We’ve played some really good football along the way and going into these games we will embrace it and we will give it everything we’ve got.
“We go into it with momentum and confidence, and we know we will face a really good team and we’ve just faced them, and we know what they have to offer, and they are a really good team like I said, but so are we.”
Talk around the game…
“There’s a lot of hype around these games. It’s how people handle them. The players are really positive and confident, and we have to embrace it.
“It’s a brilliant opportunity but it’s just another game. It’s a triple header in a short space of time and we learn more about each other through these games, but for me it’s about planning and preparing as we have done all season and going out and playing the game.”
Playing in front of the Sky Blue Army…
“There will be a big crowd and we will sell out again. It will be very noisy I’m sure and everyone is looking forward to it, there’s no doubt about it.
“Playing in front of that atmosphere in front of our supporters is brilliant. There will be more of our supporters there compared to Birmingham.
“If you can’t enjoy these games, then you can’t enjoy anything. This is what it’s all about.”
Taking it day by day…
“We can’t think beyond today. We will give them some instructions and we will talk about the game and the games gone and then work into this weekend and that’s all that matters.”
Looking back from the start of the season to now…
“When you have had the start of the season that we have had then you can cope with anything. It still annoys me to this day.
“The fact we’ve done what we’ve done is incredible, but to go into the play-offs there’s only one way to go ingot and to enjoy them is to win them and all four teams will be trying to do that.
“We got there against a lot of odds, so the players are relaxed, and they do enjoy these occasions.
“Let’s see where it takes us, we’ve done well the last few months. The Stoke game was a blip and since then we’ve been very good, and we just need to take that into the next game.”
Luton on a similar trajectory…
“Luton are here with us and they’ve been on a similar trajectory to us. They came from the National League early on, but we’ve come through the divisions almost together.
“It’s an unbelievable story for both sides.”