Coventry City boss Mark Robins makes play-off pledge as reality bites

Mark Robins is determined to ensure that Coventry City’s season doesn’t “fizzle out” after slipping to back-to-back Championship defeats.

The Sky Blues have come up short against play-off rivals on consecutive Friday night games, first losing 3-0 to Preston North End and then 2-1 at West Bromwich Albion. City remained four points off sixth placed Hull ahead of today’s league fixtures, after which they could be cut further adrift of the play-off mix with 11 games to go.

Friday’s defeat at the Hawthorns came as Robins’ 750th game in management. Asked if, aside from the disappointment of the result, the bigger picture is that he’s in a really good place in terms of what he’s achieved at Coventry so far, and with a bright future ahead, he said: “The bigger picture is that we need to do more, even though we are where we are at, you always want to do more. And what we have to do now, in the immediate future, is make sure that this season doesn’t fizzle out.

“Everyone is talking about us having to be in the play-offs but I think we needed, and we need help from other avenues, really. And when you have injuries from key players in a squad that’s the size of ours, and I say it every week, if we have got everyone fit then we are a match for anybody. But we haven’t and at times like this they need some more help.”

“Tatsu has come out and he needed a breather,” said Robins. “He’s getting that now but it’s on the back of his injury so I think, really, building into the future it is going to take some careful planning and executing. For the here and now we just have to make sure we galvanise and take the attitude from he second half into the rest of the season.”