MATT Grimes insists Coventry City can rediscover their early season form after letting a 10-point lead slip at the top of the Championship table.
The Sky Blues slipped to a 2-1 defeat against Queens Park Rangers which leaves Coventry top of the table on goal difference.
Coventry lead Middlesbrough on goal difference with Hull City five points further back in third but with a game in hand.
And Grimes insists Coventry must show what they are made of if they are to achieve promotion to the Premier League.
Grimes said: “We’re in a bad spell. We’re not picking up enough points away from home.
“But we’re top of the league. It was never going to be plain sailing.
“We started the season really well and we’re a team that can replicate that form.
“We’re in a tough period and we have to show character to get out of it now.
“We’ve given ourselves an incredible opportunity and we’re more than capable of getting it done.
“It’s on us to keep fighting and to show why we are where we are.”
A header from Josh Eccles put the Sky Blues ahead early in the second half.
However, goals from Richard Kone and Nicolas Madsen turned the game in QPR’s favour.
The Sky Blues could not find an equaliser to suffer a third straight defeat away from home.
Frank Lampard’s side have not won on the road since November.
And Grimes admits he and his teammates must embrace the challenge of starting games at the league’s summit.
Grimes added: “We won 11 out of 12 at the start of the season so there’s absolutely no reason why we can’t do that again.
“Because we’re top of the league, we have a target on our back and we have to embrace that challenge.
“The squad is chock-full of talent, it’s an incredible squad to be part of. We’re so close-knit and so together. Now is the time to show it.
“Things aren’t quite going for us. Maybe at the start of the season we were getting the rub of the green a little bit more.
“It’s where we are at the moment. We’re in a tough moment but it’s up to us to get ourselves out of it.”
Coventry host Oxford United on Saturday, February 7 with kick-off at 3.01pm at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
