Mark Robins is looking forward to another tough challenge in the Championship, when his side face West Bromwich Albion.
The Sky Blues head into the game off the back a 5-0 win over Maidstone United in the FA Cup, which sets up a quarter-final tie against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Robins gave his initial reaction to that tie, but had his mind focused on Friday night’s clash at The Hawthorns against the Baggies.
He also provided fitness updates on Haji Wright, Ben Sheaf and Jamie Allen.
FA Cup quarter-final draw…
“Tough game. Any team we were going to be drawn against was going to be tough, away from home as well.
It’s good to be in there and gives us a chance against a Premier League opponent, who are playing some really good football.
Gary O’Neill has gone in and been magnificent and in the circumstances, he took over and he’s managed to turn the results around, he has galvanised them together and they play some really good football, with some to players.
It will be a huge challenge and we can look forward to that once we’ve got through this initial run of games.
You always have a chance; you have to play a near perfect game and you have to get everything right and I watched Blackburn the other night and they went really close and were unfortunate in the end.”
Coming up against West Bromwich Albion…
“They’re all big games, but you get to a stage when you start to run out of games.
We have 12 games left and we have to pick up points against the teams that are around us and above us and we have a few of those to play.
They’re all tough games. Tomorrow night, they’re playing particularly well at the moment.
Carlos gets his teams organised and they have some experience in their side which means they’re robust enough to keep going.
They have some injuries in the forward department, but they have willing runners, and they work really hard to deny you space and to be physical.
He got to the play-off final with Huddersfield Town before and they’re in a strong position now and things are looking up for them.
It’s a local game and one we look forward to and it’s another really good challenge for us.”
Three games in the space of a week again…
“It’s a different type of game. We’re away from home and we want to go and attack and with the players we’re missing it makes it more difficult.
We have to make the best use of the players we have and we go again now, it’s Friday, Tuesday, Saturday and we will look to use the squad and go again to get the positive results we need.
After this block you look at the league and there’s nine games to go and the FA Cup quarter-final.”
Haji Wright’s fitness…
“He was fine yesterday. We make last minute checks on certain people and there’s an illness going around at the moment, so we have to make sure everyone is ok and in decent condition.”
Update on Ben Sheaf and Jamie Allen…
“Jamie is a little further away than Sheafo.
Ben is on the grass, and he won’t be too long now. Jamie will be a little bit behind him, but it’s difficult to put a time scale on Jamie because he isn’t on the grass yet.
When he does get on the grass, we will know a little bit more of how he feels, and we have to make sure he’s comfortable with different pressures on the eyes and around the face.”
