Mark Robins admits that Coventry City is “damaged” in

Mark Robins admits that Coventry City are probably fighting for just one remaining play-off place as the race for a top six finish reaches its climax with just ten games to go.

The Sky Blues head to mid-table Watford this weekend after getting back to winning ways with a thumping 5-0 victory over bottom club Rotherham United on Tuesday night, following back-to-back defeats against promotion rivals Preston and West Brom, with the manager admitting that the 2-1 defeat against the Baggies “damaged” his side’s chances of competing for a higher position.

“We clearly need to pick up results and I said before the West Brom game that we have to try to pick up points in every game now,” said the City boss, who is boosted by the return of influential midfielder Ben Sheaf from a six week injury as the team prepare for he trip to Vicarage Road.

“We have got ten games left and it’s a significant challenge. You can see the league is tight anyway. It’s tough to pick points up in any season but this season is a different league again, and everyone is close. You can see at the bottom of the league how tight that is all the way to mid-table and above, and the top few are starting to run away with things a little bit and the games are beginning to run out.”

Leicester (81), Ipswich (78), Leeds (76) and Southampton (70) appear secure in the top four places in the Championship, with fifth placed West Brom ten points adrift from that on 60. That leaves sixth placed Hull on 57, seventh placed Norwich on 55 and eighth placed Coventry on 54, followed by Preston (53), Cardiff (50), Sunderland (47), Middlesbrough (47) and Watford (45).

City finished fifth last season on 70 points, with Sunderland scraping in just below in sixth place on 69. That means the Sky Blues might need as many as 15 points or more from the remaining 30 available.

“Among those top positions, we’re looking at maybe fifth and sixth, and maybe just sixth position where we’re fighting and scrapping to get into that final play-off position because West Brom look like they are picking up points,” admitted Robins. “That damaged us when we lost the game against them last Friday and we now have to look forward and pick up points in every game.”

The Baggies travel to Huddersfield on Sunday, while Norwich entertain Rotherham on Saturday and Hull face a tough test at home to leaders Leicester.