Coventry game 'not about me' - Stoke boss Robins

Frank Lampard's Coventry City have lost five times in 21 league games, while Stoke City boss Mark Robins began the season with seven losses from 14 for the Sky Blues

"I'm all in here, what's gone is gone."

It is a typically matter-of-fact response from Stoke City boss Mark Robins, who returns to former club Coventry for the first time on Saturday, four months after his second spell in charge there came to an end.

And having failed to win any of their past three games, and losing three of the past five, the Potters need points to move them further away from the relegation zone.

Robins is Stoke's third manager in the current campaign, following Steven Schumacher and Narcis Pelach, and finds himself up against a buoyant Coventry side under Frank Lampard, who have surged into the play-off positions.

However, the 55-year-old said the focus should be on his players, not him.

"For me, it's another game. We're going to my former employers, [but] that's it. I'm not playing, it's not about me, it's about the players, how they've been prepared, and how we can go and impose our game on an opponent," he told BBC Radio Stoke.

"I spent a lot of time there and I had a brilliant time, the best time of my managerial career without a doubt.

"The support was absolutely brilliant, but that came to an end in November and my employment here started in January.

"Going back there will be great, seeing a few friendly faces, a few nice people, and then we've got a game to play."

The Robins years in Coventry

Mark Robins celebrates Coventry's promotion from League Two in 2018

Robins was the EFL's longest-serving manager when he was sacked on 7 November - after seven years and eight months in charge in his second spell, having first been Sky Blues boss in the 2012-13 season.

In that time, despite being unable to prevent relegation to the bottom division after coming back in on 6 March 2017, the Sky Blues won the EFL Trophy at Wembley just a month after he arrived and thereafter remained on an almost constantly upward curve for the next seven years.

Twice they won promotion, via the play-offs at Wembley in the 2017-18 campaign - their only season in League Two - and then again as League One champions in the Covid-curtailed 2019-20 season.

They also reached Wembley twice more, in the 2023 Championship play-off final when they lost on penalties to Luton Town, and again in last season's FA Cup semi-final defeat, also on spot-kicks, after being stung by a disallowed last-minute winning goal against eventual winners Manchester United.

But that Wembley misfortune left its mark as the Sky Blues fell away badly in the league to miss out on the play-offs - and the hangover lasted into this season

When Robins was sacked, after four wins in 14 Championship games, the Sky Blues were one of six sides on 15 points, including Plymouth in the relegation zone.

But, having encountered an awkward mood when he arrived, following an outpouring of emotion over Robins' exit, his replacement Lampard has overseen Coventry's rise to fifth in the Championship, with eight wins in their past nine league games.

'Data suggested Coventry results would improve'

Robins is not surprised by Coventry's rise under the former England international, who has previous managerial experience with Derby County, Chelsea and Everton.

"They're on a really good run, they've had some brilliant results. There's no taking away from what Frank Lampard's done there. But the data suggested when I left that this was likely to happen," he said.

"They've got good players there, but I also know their weaknesses. So if we can exploit the areas, we can hurt them.

"It's the same as any other game, we've got to work and earn the right to do that.

"It'll be nice going back but I'm taking my team to Coventry to try and take the three points."

With a home game to follow on Tuesday against Blackburn Rovers, and a trip to Millwall on 15 March, Robins said it is a "moving week" for his team, if they "get things right".

He added: "During that period of three games, you can see fatigue in certain squads if they're not robust enough to cope with it or if they've not got the depth to cope with it.

"We've got to be mindful of that going into the three-game week, as everybody is, and see how we can best approach each of those games."

Mixed feelings over returning players

Lewis Baker scores for Stoke City in one of Mark Robins' first games in charge

Stoke are 20th in the table, five points above the bottom three, and Robins has the task of ensuring the possibility of returning to the third tier for the first time since 2020 is quickly banished.

But only five of their 11 remaining matches are at home and they face the current top two, Leeds United and Sheffield United, back to back at the end of April before ending the campaign against Derby County at Pride Park.

The Potters have been reinforced of late by players returning from injury, a trend that is likely to continue with the likes of Wouter Burger, Lynden Gooch and Ben Gibson nearing a return.

However, Robins said: "It's starting to look a bit better, but you get players back, they might be fit, but they're not match ready.

"We've got 11 games left and we've got a group of players that have been out for three months, four months, so how do you navigate that scenario?

"You think it becomes clearer over a week or two, but that's not the case necessarily."

Stoke have won only two of their past nine games against the Sky Blues, but recent visits have been productive - a 4-0 win in April 2023 and goalless draw last season.

And although Robins is proud of what he achieved at the CBS Arena, he hopes to continue that trend and has urged the Stoke fans to get right behind his team.

"There were a lot of people responsible for that [Coventry success], it wasn't just me," he added.

"The supporters were absolutely fantastic, and that's what I want to try and do here - different clubs, different cities, hugely different starting points, different history - but the one fundamental is the support, you can't do anything without the fan base."