Coventry City manager Gordon Strachan is refusing to believe that his side is safe until mathematics proves it.

The Sky Blues go into Saturday’s clash with Derby County at Pride Park with a seven point cushion over their rival strugglers, but Strachan is taking nothing for granted.

He said:

"People were saying that we were safe four weeks ago after our back to back wins at Easter but we knew there would be twists and turns in this league.

"You have to be a realist and not a pessimist. I think we have a good chance of winning the two games we have left."

Whatever happens elsewhere, one more point will be enough to secure City’s Premiership status but Strachan believes there is more at stake than points.

"I asked some questions of my players after the game at Leicester and to some extent they answered them against Wimbledon, but we still have questions to answer away from home.

"If you have away form like ours you will struggle and it will be a real test for us at Derby. We all want to finish the campaign strongly because it gets you looking forward to next season."

Coventry may be forced to go into the game without two of their recognised left-sided players.

Stephen Froggatt is definitely ruled out with the hamstring strain that has caused him to miss the last five matches and David Burrows has not trained since collecting a thigh strain in the victory over Wimbledon at the weekend.

Mo Konjic will also be missing again after the knock he collected in a training game for Bosnia, but Paul Williams may return to the side after missing the ‘Dons clash with a calf injury.

The best news for City comes in the shape of Roland Nilsson who has returned to the club after recovering from fractured ribs and a punctured lung, and could figure on Saturday – something that does not surprise Strachan.

He said:

"There is no such thing as natural fitness. Because Roland has put the work in over the years his body can recover better from these knocks, and I expected him to return before the end of the season.

"You only have to look at the likes of McAllister, Nilsson, Shaw and Ogrizovic to see how long you can go on if you conduct yourself properly on and off the field."