Coventry City mean serious business, West Brom and Norwich should be wary
The consistency of Robins’ men is a quality the Sky Blues have, and is unrivalled by some of their fellow top-six hopefuls
Mark Robins’ Coventry City narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League last campaign, losing the play-off final to Luton Town via a penalty shootout.
But results in recent weeks show that the Sky Blues are not disheartened by last season’s defeat at the final hurdle, and could go one better this time around.
Saturday’s 1-0 win over Stoke City means Robins’ side have suffered defeat in just one of their last 17 matches in all competitions, while the Sky Blues have not lost on home soil since a 2-0 defeat to fellow play-off chasers West Brom on 30th October.
The Sky Blues’ good run of late sees them sitting sixth in the Championship table, while they have also progressed to the FA Cup fifth round where they will face National League South side Maidstone United.
The consistency of Robins’ men is a quality the Sky Blues have, and is unrivalled by some of their fellow top-six hopefuls, such as West Brom and Norwich City.
Baggies and Canaries must be wary of Sky Blues
Neither the Canaries nor the Baggies can boast the sort of consistency the Sky Blues have in abundance, which gives Robins’ side a major advantage in the race for the top six.
David Wagner’s men play stellar football at times, as shown in recent victories over Watford and Cardiff City, in which they won 4-2 and 4-1 respectively.
But over the festive period, the Canaries lost to both the Baggies and Millwall, a fate which was not suffered by the Sky Blues, who brushed aside both Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday.
The Baggies may sit above the Sky Blues in the Championship table, but Friday night’s loss to Southampton is a potential dent to their promotion hopes, while Corberan’s men lost three games in all competitions in January.
The Sky Blues were undefeated throughout the whole month of January, and have responded to an early February loss to the Canaries by going four games undefeated in all competitions.
Robins’ side are simply unrelenting, which is a desirable quality which goes a very long way in terms of deciding which teams manage to grab a play-off sport.
Sky Blues have last season’s experience to their advantage
Not only are Robins’ men more consistent than their fellow play-off contenders, they also reached last season’s play-off final, so they know what it takes to get over the line into the top six.
Last campaign, the Sky Blues finished fifth in the Championship on 70 points while the Baggies finished ninth, missing out on a top-six spot by just three points.
But the Canaries were nowhere to be seen in terms of the play-off race last campaign, finishing in a relatively lowly 13th, so Robins and co have the edge here in terms of using last season’s experience to carry them over the line into the play-offs once more.
The Sky Blues may not have last season’s superstars, Viktor Gyokeres and Gus Hamer, but with Callum O’Hare and Haji Wright on the sort of form they have displayed in recent weeks, it is difficult to see Robins’ side losing ground to rivals such as the Baggies and Canaries.
