Mark Robins will be remembered as the manager who led Coventry City to the final four of the FA Cup for the first time since George Curtis and John Sillett in 1987, should the team pull off an unexpected upset in the 2024 edition.

The match against Premier League Wolves presents the 54-year-old Sky Blues manager with yet another exciting chance to write his name in the club’s history. He is already secure in the knowledge that he is among the most prosperous managers in the club’s contemporary history.

Naturally, City is the underdog, just as they were against Tottenham in the championship game 37 years ago, but neither the players nor the supporters give up on “dreaming” of winning. Robins is fully aware that in order to accomplish that, his team will need to perform at its peak and possibly catch Wanderers on a “off day.”

It’s interesting to note that Robins draws some inspiration from the dynamic George Elokobi, the manager of non-league Maidstone United, who performed admirably to get to the competition’s fifth round until the Sky Blues blew them away with five goals.

“After the Maidstone game, the shoe is kind of on the other foot, and upsets can happen,” Robins remarked. In the last round, we witnessed from George’s (Elokobi) side how full of optimism, confidence, and belief they were. And you have a chance in any game if you enter it with that cocktail.”

The manager was in a positive mood during an unusually crowded pre-match press conference, unlike Robins’ weekly scheduled dates with the media.

“You have to try to make the most of it and do as much as you can to get through because it’s a brilliant game and you get very few opportunities to play in games like this in your career,” he said.

Doug King, the club owner, requested a cup run this year, and Robins duly obliged. In addition, there’s a feeling of atonement for City’s humiliating third-round loss to non-league Wrexham the previous season.

“We are attempting to make up for last year and the cup itself is a world-renowned competition,” he stated. “They are a good side, but we want to give a good account of ourselves and cause them problems.”

Wolves’ injuries, which include those to two of their best players in Pedro Neto and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, can only help City. Pablo Sarabia is now the only senior forward that Wolves manager Gary O’Neil can choose from.

“We are aware that this is an extremely difficult request. They still have a lot of quality even though they have a lot of injuries, according to Robins. And all we can hope for is that we can play well enough to advance farther in the tournament.

They’ll believe they ought to prevail.We’ve been keeping an eye on them, but it’s challenging to conduct analysis on them since there are some that are absent and some that might return, so we’re preparing for a few potential outcomes. However, their skill and quickness in every position is a situation that will occur, so we must play at the top of our game, move the ball fast, remain composed, and utilize it wisely.”

In their previous encounters with elite teams, City has performed admirably. Their greatest victories were against Stoke in League Two and, more recently, when they faced Southampton in a match that went to extra time at St Mary’s before losing 2-1. So, his primary goal is to get a performance?

He concurred, saying, “I think that’s what you always look for.” It promises to be fascinating. The field will resemble a pool table, and both our supporters and the wildly enthusiastic Wolves fans will be making a lot of noise. But it’s a fantastic game where anyone can put themselves to the test in a genuinely challenging setting.

Giving the ball away for too little in previous games has been one of City’s problems; Robins knows they can’t afford to do that against a team that is so swift and skillful.

He declared, “We have to try to impose ourselves on Wolves because they have some brilliant talent and they are fantastic on the counter attack in the Premier League.” “We could get into trouble if we turn the ball over too frequently, so stay composed and keep the ball a lot while in possession.”

“It will be interesting,” he continued. “We need to play well out of possession, maintain composure when in possession, and also carry a threat.”

Does Robins see this as a way to assess how near his players and himself are to the level of play and management in the Premier League, or is this just a one-off in the cup?

“It’s an opportunity to test yourself against elite opposition, but it’s also a one-off,” he stated. “In the Premier League, this team is ahead of Chelsea. Everyone can thus use it as a chance to show off their talents, and we can use it to promote the club. Going there and making Coventry the talk of the town, especially among our own supporters, is incredibly essential because we want them to carry us and we want to carry them, as we have done for the past seven years that I have been here.

We aim to deliver an outstanding show that inspires all 5,000 of us, propels us forward, and, hopefully, gets us through. And that possibility exists at all times. And whatever the future holds for the remainder of the season, that can help maintain that forward momentum.

While they may only be in the second division, City boasts players who have competed in major tournaments: Liam Kitching, Bobby Thomas, and Brad Collins were all involved in the League One play-off final at Wembley in May of last year, and several other players were in the Championship play-off final that same weekend. Does the manager believe he has players who will perform well under pressure?

“We’ll see,” he remarked. There are always upsets surrounding this competition, which is something you aim for every year, so being a part of it and trying to secure a spot at Wembley is a pretty huge carrot. However, it also applies to Wolves.

“Gary O’Neill has mentioned winning the FA Cup this year, and we’re discussing our efforts to advance to our first semi-final in a very long time.”

In reference to making history, he continued, saying, “There’s all that. It will be an amazing occasion. Even though we are aware of how big the task is, we nevertheless plan to go there and give it our all.

When asked if leading his team against the odds and into the semi-finals would be his proudest moment as Coventry manager, Robins paused, laughed to himself, and joked, saying, “It will be the biggest achievement this week!”

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