ROBINS: A CUP UPSET IS MAID TO MEASURE
BY
MARK ROBINS says Coventry can take inspiration from FA Cup historymakers Maidstone against Premier League Wolves today.
The National League South side emerged as one of the stories of this season’s competition by becoming the lowest-ranked side to reach the last 16 since 1978. George Elokobi’s team’s magical run was finally ended by the Sky Blues, who eased to a 5-0 victory.
Now the tables have turned and it is Coventry who are major underdogs.
But Robins says they too must try to seize their moment in the spotlight – just like the sixth-tier side, whose Cup victims included Ipswich.
“It’s a flip from the previous round against Maidstone,” said the Sky Blues boss. “George Elokobi came in to see us after the game and he was saying how well we’d played and we were an inspiration to them.
“In that moment you think how inspirational he has been this season with his team and his players. And you can take a little bit of that from them. You’ve got to aim high all the time and this is one of those moments. You don’t get many of them.”
The Sky Blues are bidding to reach the last four of the FA Cup for the first time in 37 years, but Robins knows they have their work cut out against a Wolves side in European contention under Gary O’neil.
He added: “We’ve got to play really well and hope that we come up against them on an off-day, or we have an incredible day. That’s not defeatist, it’s just normal, and our players will be dreaming of beating them and trying to get through.
“We have to go and attack this game with a mindset to get through to a semifinal which we last did in 1987 – and we went on to win the cup that year.
“We know we’re underdogs but that’s an OK place for us to be.”
Wolves are 1-3 to make the semifinals while Coventry are 9-4.
Wolves, who last reached the final in 1960, are 1-2 to win the FA Cup, with the Sky Blues on the 40-1 mark.