Coventry's Irish midfielder Michael Doyle believes the Sky Blues have what it takes to keep their Championship status next season. It's been a rocky season for the club who were at the centre of a takeover by former Newcastle and Manchester City player Ray Ranson before Chris Coleman came in to replace Iain Dowie as manager. While all that was happening off the field, City were sliding down the table and heading for League One. But Coleman has stopped the rot and Doyle played his part by scoring two goals in the 3-1 win over Plymouth at the weekend. It improved Coventry's meagre goalscoring record considerably and, as he told givemefootball's Ian Clarkson, a convincing win had been on the cards for some time.
Q:DESPITE BEING AT THE WRONG END OF THE TABLE, YOU HAD A DECENT WIN OVER PLYMOUTH WHO WERE IN THE PLAY-OFF POSITIONS AT THE START OF THE DAY, HOW VALUABLE WAS THIS WIN?
A:Very, it's just what we needed although I feel as though we've been playing well for some time to be honest. We've been solid and in our position it would be easy to lump it forward every week and put the squeeze on teams. But the manager wants us to get our foot on the ball and play which we have been doing.
Q:YOU SEEM VERY DOWN TO EARTH ABOUT THE PROSPECT OF FIGHTING AGAINST RELEGATION, ARE YOU A CALM PERSON?
A:I like to stay down to earth if I can, and as for avoiding relegation a lot of it is about keeping your nerve. We've got some confidence now and only some inspired goalkeeping has stopped us winning as many games as we'd like. That turns up the pressure when you're at the wrong end of the table, but we knew it would fall for us sometime and it did.
Q:APPARENTLY YOU LIKE TO WIND DOWN BY TAKING YOUR DOGS FOR A WALK IN THE COUNTRY, IS THAT RIGHT?
A:That's true, I've got a couple of Rottweilers! I've heard this about owners and their dogs being the same, and I think mine are just like me. They've got a hard image, but really they're calm and gentle underneath! I live out in the country away from everybody and I get them out for an hour or two every day. It helps me relax and gives me a little bit of peace and quiet the day after a game or training.
Q:YOU WERE MISSING ONE OF YOUR BEST PLAYERS LEON BEST AS HE STARTED A TWO-MATCH SUSPENSION, DID THE REST OF THE TEAM STEP UP TO THE PLATE?
A:They did. Robbie Simpson came in and took Leon's place and he was great against Plymouth. He held the ball up well and put in a really good shift. He did a lot of the hard work even though I got a couple of goals. You need team players like that when you need to climb the table. Robbie's been really patient and deserved a goal to be honest. We totally dominated the second half and we'll go to Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday in good heart.
Q:SO THE BIG QUESTION IS, CAN YOU STAY UP?
A:We'd like to think so but we realise that every game will be important between now and the end of the season. We'll keep plugging away and look after ourselves first. If we play like we have been recently then we'll be okay.. One win might do it, it all depends how the other results go. But we didn't go into the Plymouth game thinking that match was the be-all and end-all. In the end, we were disappointed to concede a goal late on.
Q:TELL US ABOUT JAY TABB, HE HAD A GREAT GAME ON SATURDAY AND HIS RECENT PERFORMANCES HAVE BEEN SUPERB.
A:Tabby's the ultimate pro, he gives 100 per cent in training and I'm sure he does the right things away from the game. Any player who wants to make it in the game should take a look at Jay.
