Sky Blues boss Mark Robins praised the players, staff, and supporters after his side secured a play-off spot with a 1-1 draw against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium.
With it known a draw would be enough for the Sky Blues to secure a play-off finish, City came flying out the blocks hungry for all three points and had the lead through Gustavo Hamer inisde the first 25 minutes.
Cameron Archer dealt the blow on half-time to equalise, but a 1-1 draw ensured City finished 5th and saw them clinch a play-off spot.
The Sky Blues will welcome Boro to the Coventry Building Society Arena before travelling back up to Teeside as the two teams prepare to face each other for a total of three consecutive games.
Speaking to the assembled media after the match, Robins gave his thoughts:
On securing a play-off spot…
“It’s a phenomenal achievement but it’s just the start of it.
“We’ve got a bit of work to do this week, it’s a triple header [against Middlesbrough] and we knew there was a chance of it being that, so a home game on Sunday and we’re really looking forward to it.
“It’s an outstanding achievement and considering all the stuff that has gone on and all the rubbish we’ve had to put up with, hopefully the new ownership are happy and Doug must be thanking his lucky stars and we’re three games away from something really special.
“It gives us a real chance and builds the excitement which is what it’s all about.
“I’m proud of them, every single one of them, all the staff and all the players.
“The difficultly is that it is a squad and I can only pick 11, some have been left out but they have been so together as a squad and that’s the main thing, but they’ll be ready if needed.
“The supporters were magnificent and today everybody deserves what comes next, so let’s see how we go.
“Together we can rise and that’s been the mantra for a number of years now and, thankfully, the supporters listen here and they can stick by us through thick and thin.
“Lets enjoy it and hope we can make it an even more special season than it already is.”
On the upcoming games against Middlesbrough...
“We won’t be back until late, so we’ll be on the bus back planning what we’re going to do and what the next few days will look like.
“We need to get the recovery in and we’ve got until Sunday and what a brilliant week to work into, I think everyone will be delighted.
“I thought they were really good but they’ve got more to come, so there’s more thinking around the game.
“They will have learned from it, so we’ve got to be bang on next game at home and the return game here.
“You can see the way the move the ball and they find space that they’ve got Premier League quality, Michael [Carrick] has done really well and come in and get them playing good football.
“We managed to keep them at bay today but there’s more to come, there’s players that may come back in, they’ve got top quality that’s due to come back in.
“I know what we’re capable of and the players need to really believe and give it the game of their lives, that’s probably what it’s going to take.
“We’ve got players in there with big hearts and they’ve been fantastic for 46 games this season, so three more to go and probably the biggest games of everyones career.
“What a brilliant position to be in, we’ve just got to make sure we enjoy it and we’re in the present with nothing else on our minds but the performance we need to put in.
“We’ve done that for most of the season, especially since we got going at the start of the season.
“The players have got nothing to fear, the main thing for me is that we come onto it on the back of a really good run.”
On the performance today…
“Generally we had the better chances, apart from that blip on half time were we switched off and with the quality of players they’ve got they finished it, [Cameron] Archer is a really good player, a good finisher and he got on the end of it.
“It’s 1-1 at the break and they come out on the front foot, they’ve got more goals than anyone else in that 15-minute period after half-time, so to keep them as quiet as we did was a testament to the players.
“The first goal was important, in any game, and especially today’s game, in the end we got the result we needed and we did have a few more chances to go and put the game to bed early on.”