COVENTRY'S League One status may look desperate but new boss Mark Robins has vowed they will not throw in the towel.

The rock-bottom Sky Blues are 13 points from safety going into tomorrow's clash with City.

It could not be a more precarious starting point for Robins, who this week returned to the club where he previously had a five-month managerial spell up to February 2013.

In that time, he had transformed a club just relegated from the Championship into potential promotion contenders. Now he inherits a side with one foot seemingly already planted in League Two.

Russell Slade was sacked after just 13 games in charge – which produced only one victory against Gillingham.

But Robins, who will be joined by long-term assistant Steve Taylor in the dugout, does not view it as a completely hopeless cause, even though they realistically have to find eight wins to stand a chance of survival.

He said: "Everything we do will be to get the best team on the pitch that we possibly can. We have to make sure we try and win as many games as we possibly can do, not throw in the towel.

"Keeping the Sky Blues up is not in the remit – but there are 11 games left and we have to be positive. Of those 11 games, seven are at home and there is a cup final in the middle of that. It's very difficult but we have to have a go."

The Bantams will be wary of the "new manager bounce" that teams often enjoy with a change at the top.

Robins admits he wants to unite a club that continues to be torn apart by internal strife.

He said: "We're in a predicament and all the supporters will be fearing the worst. There is one goal and one priority."

Ben Stevenson could start in midfield but former Bantam Kyel Reid is likely to be on the bench again.