MARK Robins is feeling optimistic ahead of Coventry City’s Friday night clash with play-off rivals Preston North End.
The Sky Blues sit seventh in the Championship table, three points outside of the play-off places, with Preston just behind City in ninth place.
Coventry suffered a 3-2 defeat in the reverse fixture at Deepdale but have lost just two of their 18 league matches since the aforementioned fixture in Lancashire.
Robins said: “There’s a lot of optimism around and everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to the game.
“Preston are a tough team, they have some good players and some real good experience and they will try and put us under pressure and it will be a real challenge, but one we can look forward to.
“If we can put in a positive performance and get the three points then that bodes well going into the game the week after against West Brom, with Maidstone in between.
“I gave the players a few days off after Stoke and I think that some other manages have done the same thing because of the way the players look, and you know when they need a breather or to work harder.
“It will have benefitted some more than others, but there has been some work done as well, it hasn’t been a total shut down.”
Coventry’s clash with Preston takes place on Friday, February 23 with kick-off at 7.45pm at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
