The Local Lowdown: Coventry City

Coventry only missed out on promotion to the Premier League on penalties last season, losing the play-off final to Luton. Was that seen as an overachievement, given the club’s resources, and what was the team’s success built on?

It wasn't necessarily seen as an overachievement based on resources because they had two of the best players in the division in Gus Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres.

However, it was seen as hugely unexpected given the poor start to the season which saw them bottom of the league in mid-October, in part due to the fact that they had to play so many games away from home due to the CBS Arena pitch being unplayable following a rugby sevens tournament in the Commonwealth Games.

The team's success was built on solid foundations of 22 clean sheets and the brilliance of Hamer and Gyokeres.

Have you sensed a bit of a hangover from that Wembley disappointment this season?

Not at all. The only reason for Coventry's sluggish start to the new campaign is due to the high turnover in players in the summer with 14 leaving, including Hamer and Gyokeres, and 11 coming in. It's taken time for many of them to gel and adjust to the rigours of the Championship, and things are finally starting to come together nicely.

Mark Robins is the Championship’s longest-serving manager, leading the club from League Two to the Championship’s top six since his appointment in 2017. Has his position ever felt under threat this season, and is he still held in high regard by the fans?

Mark Robins has plenty of credit in the bank from the incredible job he has done to get the club back up the leagues and to the brink of promotion back to the Premier League last season.

Even when results stretched to four defeats in a row there was no suggestion of any concern from the hierarchy, although you never know with a relatively new owner in charge.

The vast majority of the fans, however, remain firmly behind the manager and continue to sing his name aloud at most games. And whatever happens in the future, Robins will always be hailed as one of the club's greatest ever managers.

Coventry manager Mark Robins. (Photo: Jess Hornby/Getty Images)

How have performances been recently, and which players should Saints watch out for?

The Sky Blues have been playing with confidence and results have picked up in recent weeks with three wins from their last four matches, and even the one they lost at Ipswich could have been different if they hadn't missed a penalty and the chances that came their way.

The man of the moment is Callum O'Hare who stole the show in Friday night's 2-0 derby win over Birmingham with both goals and a match-winning performance, as the attacking midfielder looks back to his best following ten months out with an ACL rupture.

Tatsu Sakamoto and Milan van Ewijk were also outstanding on the right, while Haji Wright was a threat down the left.

What sort of atmosphere should the travelling Saints fans expect?

It promises to be a lively and noisy atmosphere, as is the norm at the CBS Arena these days with over 19,000 season ticket holders and average gates of around 23,000. The Sky Blue Army have an impressive repertoire of terrace chants and songs and are always in fine voice, starting from the hardcore fans in Singers' Corner, just next to the away supporters.

How do you see Wednesday’s game going, and how will Coventry approach it?

Obviously it's going to be a tough game given Saints' current run of unbeaten form and quality throughout the squad, but Coventry are more than capable of giving a good account of themselves and getting a result. They certainly won't sit back and will look to hurt their opponents down the flanks. I'll go for a 1-1 draw.

Main image: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images