Town captain Sam Morsy highlighted the squad’s resilience after the Blues moved to within one point of promotion to the Premier League with a crucial 2-1 victory over Coventry City.

Victory over the Sky Blues means Kieran McKenna’s side know they will achieve back-to-back automatic promotions if they avoid defeat to all-but-relegated Huddersfield Town on Saturday lunchtime.

Morsy is more than aware that Town are not yet over the line, but knows the significance of three points in the West Midlands in a tough fixture against a side who recently reached the FA Cup semi-finals.

“We started the game really well and scored a really good goal,” the Blues skipper said. “We cut through them a few times and they had spells with the ball, which is not uncommon when teams have nothing to play for and have good players.

“At home they obviously want to play their game as well so we had to be resilient. They equalised with a half-decent strike, maybe we could do better but it sort of went through, but that can happen, it’s a good strike.

“Then we get back in the game and we had lots of chances. We showed resilience as well, maybe we could have scored one or two more but we take the win.

“It was about trying to get control of the game and I think we did that well. When we got through one or two passes we looked really dangerous. The big man came up with a really good goal today.”

That opening goal was scored by Kieffer Moore after just eight minutes, but Town were pegged back during the second half when Haji Wright levelled proceedings for the Sky Blues.

But Town were not to be denied and defender Cameron Burgess slammed in off the post only five minutes later to give the Blues what could be one of their most valuable victories of the season.

“Again, they were having a little spell but as soon as they scored we got back in the game,” Morsy reflected. “We were really determined, we had some really good chances actually. We need to be clinical next week.

“We had real big determination and that’s what we need to force the ball in. Jez [Jeremy Sarmiento] had a couple of opportunities, Omari [Hutchinson] did as well. It was a really positive performance.”

He added: “We’ve been together a few years now so we’d be crazy to start doing different things to what we’ve been doing. So it was the same mindset, it was being really professional, it was calm heads, it was not getting caught up in all the emotions of it.

“You play your own game and you hope for the best – that’s all you can do, give your best and see what happens.”

It was inevitable that Town would face pressure from a Coventry side who had scored 32 goals in their previous 11 home matches.

That pressure came and the Blues had to see out 11 minutes of stoppage time before grinding out a crucial victory.

There could have been ghosts of the Cardiff City game in March, where Town let slip a one-goal lead in stoppage time to lose, but Morsy says that never came into the mindset of the players.

“That’s one game in a few years,” the Egyptian international dismissed. “Every game is different and every game can be random.

“Every team in the division has got a threat and teams can score at any moment, but we had to be strong, resilient, do what we did and we dug it out.”

The Blues are not new to huge away fixtures at the business end of the season. Just 12 months ago, Town visited Barnsley for a midweek away fixture knowing that victory would move them to the brink of promotion.

The Town captain says the Coventry victory feels like a pivotal result in their season, and sees the parallels some supporters have made with the 3-0 victory at Oakwell last year.

“Yeah, of course,” he agreed. “It’s a good win, it’s another three points on the board but that’s all it is. It was obviously important to get something tonight with the results and it was a good performance.

“That’s the most important thing because the performance gives you a platform. We could have possibly scored a few more but it was a good performance, we worked hard and it was a good win.

“Obviously it was a really big night and we’ve had loads of them. They’re meant to be enjoyed, the fans are buzzing and everyone is buzzing, but all it is is three points.”

With the prospect of Premier League football certainly within reach, Morsy was asked if the situation he finds himself in was beyond his wildest dreams at the start of the season.

The 32-year-old responded: “You don’t really think about it, to be fair. Obviously the goal was to become a really good team and to keep improving.

“We’ve managed to do that and we’ve gradually done that. We started the season really well – we just have to continue and keep going.”

The travelling fans were in full voice as ever, with more than 2,500 lucky enough to grab a ticket in the away end enjoying jubilant scenes at the final whistle.

“Yeah, it was really nice,” Morsy said. “Another really big following, the fans were amazing. They carried us through at the end, we heard them in massive voice and it was a great evening for them tonight.”

The weekend visit of the Terriers is the 46th and final match of the regular season, a gruelling campaign that has seen the Blues pick up a staggering 93 points to date and only lose six league games.

Morsy says the group have got all the belief they can get the job done at Portman Road and return to the top flight for the first time in 22 years, but argues there are no easy games in the Championship and that attitude levels cannot drop below 100 per cent.

He said: “Of course, we’ve got belief every game we can win. We’ll go out and try and win it, we’ll run ourselves into the ground, we’ll approach the game with humility.

“We’ll give it everything that we’ve got and after 90 plus however minutes we’ll see where we are.

“It’s never an easy game. To play in the Championship you have to sacrifice and you have to be very good players, so undoubtedly they’re very good players. They’re a good team with a good manager so we have to be at our best.”

Photo: Matchday Images

chorltonskylineblue added 10:25 - May 1 Phil - do you know what happens if Morsy gets carded (for his 15th and auto 3 match ban) and we secure promotion? Does the ban carry over into the PL?
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Guthrum added 10:43 - May 1 cholrltonskylineblue - It's very unclear, but the rules state yellow cards are confined to the competition in which they were handed out. So presumably a suspension earnt in the Championship wouldn't carry across to the Prem.
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oldburian added 14:13 - May 1 If he gets a yellow on Saturday it will mean a three match ban, in the play offs if we lose or in the Premier if we avoid defeat.
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Bazza8564 added 17:28 - May 1 let's pray he stays clean and we don't need him to do anything daft
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braveblue added 18:16 - May 1 Thought it was confirmed last week that yellows don’t carry forward into the play offs. Can’t see them impacting the Premier League.
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bobble added 03:51 - May 2 people.. its the 1st division, not the premier league ,as there are very few premier clubs in it, about 60% of it seems to be around 2nd division standard struggling to hold their places, while a handful of big money clubs play to actually win anything...not quite as boring as the german or spanish/scottish leagues but certainly heading into decline that way
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