FOOTBALL – Ben Sheaf insists Coventry City must embrace final day pressure with play-off spot on the line
BEN Sheaf insists Coventry City must embrace the pressure ahead of a final day showdown with Middlesbrough to secure a play-off spot.
The Sky Blues lost 1-0 against Luton Town at Kenilworth Road in a heated clash which saw both teams finish the game with 10-men.
However, City remain in the play-off places on goal difference – four goals clear of closest rivals Millwall.
Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough can also finish in the top-six but the Sky Blues know victory against the latter side on the final day would all but guarantee a play-off spot.
And Sheaf insists Coventry have the confidence and belief to seal a top-six finish on the final day of the season.
Sheaf said: “We’ve got ourselves in this position now and we don’t want to lose that now.
“We’re worthy of being where we are because of the quality that we have and the way we’ve played.
“We have confidence in the squad and the coaching staff have been fantastic since they’ve come in so the belief is there for sure.
“These are the games that you want to be playing in as a player. You want to be involved, you want to feel that pressure and be able to embrace that.
“It’s going to be another big one on Saturday and we’ve just got it dust ourselves down and look forward to that one because we know what we can do at the CBS.”
Coventry head into the final game of the campaign off the back of successive defeats against relegation-threatened Luton and Plymouth Argyle.
The Sky Blues had to play with 10-men for more than 80 minutes in their defeat at Luton after Jay Dasilva saw red early on at Kenilworth Road.
And Sheaf admits the Luton defeat is a difficult result to swallow after .
Sheaf added: “It’s a difficult one to swallow, we dug in for the whole game but that’s football sometimes.
“We’ve just got to dust ourselves off we’ve got one big game to go.
“We knew what the game was going to be, even with 11 versus 11, so obviously, when we went to 10-men, we knew it was going to be even harder.
“But the boys dug in, defended well, stuck together, and did all the right things, and it’s just a disappointing result in the end.”
Coventry finish the season with a home game against Middlesbrough on Saturday, May 3 with kick-off at 12.30pm at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
