Coventry manager Mark Robins heaped praise on match-winner Ellis Simms after his side kept themselves in the Sky Bet Championship play-off places with a hard-fought 1-0 win away at struggling Stoke.

Simms, a summer signing from Everton, followed up his goal in the 2-2 draw with Plymouth on Wednesday by settling the contest at the Bet365 Stadium.

The winner came in the 51st minute when Haji Wright caught Ki-Jana Hoever in possession and prodded the ball to Callum O’Hare, who played in Simms to slot home.

Victory consolidates the Sky Blues’ sixth-placed standing on goal difference on 51 points.

“We’ve had to dig in because it wasn’t a great game,” Robins said. “There wasn’t really much quality on show.

“I think really the bits of quality that were on show, Ellis Simms, I thought, was involved in all of them. I think his goal was brilliantly taken.

“I think he’s got confidence from the goal on Wednesday evening, and really they’re not easy those because you’ve got a lot of time to look at it and he found the back of the net really well to complete the move.

“Hadji on the back of him (Hoever) has nicked it from him, Callum O’Hare releases him really quickly and he goes and puts it into the net – brilliant finish.”

Coventry did come agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock early on, with Jack Bonham saving well from Wright’s header via a deflection off Ben Wilmot before blocking Simms’ effort.

The rebound fell kindly to O’Hare, who looked certain to score, but Wilmot – making his 100th appearance for Stoke – was on the line to divert the ball onto the post and away.

“They threw some bodies behind it, but I don’t know how we’ve not scored,” Robins added. “And really, we would have opened the game up then.

“But again, you have to show concentration and it just looked like a really tired performance from both teams because of the amount of games that we’ve got.”

Defeat for Stoke means they have now lost five of their last six games, leaving them in 19th place and just three points clear of the relegation zone.

“I thought it was quite a close game, quite tight,” manager Steven Schumacher said. “There wasn’t a lot in it between the two teams.

“It was just an error that’s decided it, which is obviously disappointing from our point of view.

“But I can’t fault the players’ effort. I thought they gave everything. I think the players who started competed and had to try and keep a really good Coventry team relatively quiet.

“And then I think the subs who came on in the last half an hour gave us some energy and played with a good tempo, but unfortunately that one moment has decided it.”

Despite ending a four-match losing streak last time out with a 1-0 victory over QPR, it’s now just three wins in 19 league matches for Stoke, who face a real battle to avoid the drop.

“It’s important that we don’t lose our belief,” Schumacher added.

“It’s not the end of the world. I understand no one wants to lose games of football. We don’t want to come in here and accept that we lose another game at home – far from it.

“But the fans will accept it if the players give 100 per cent, and they definitely did do that today.”

Coventry boss Mark Robins heaped praise on Callum O’Hare after the midfielder scored a brace in the 4-1 win against Sheffield Wednesday which set up a FA Cup fifth round-tie against non-league minnows Maidstone.

O’Hare’s double came after Kasey Palmer had opened the scoring 17 days after he was the target of racial abuse at Hillsborough, while Bailey Cadamarteri had earlier equalised for the Owls.

Haji Wright capped off a devastating eight-minute spell in the second half to make it 4-1 at the CBS Arena.

“His (O’Hare’s) goals were brilliant,” said Robins.

“In the first half he’s had a couple of opportunities and he’s just missed, you can see the disappointment that he’s not hit the target. He’s made the keeper make a save from one and he’s had one that hit the stanchion so he wasn’t too far away.

“I thought the overall play, some of the one-touch passing and the movement and the calmness and patience, there was some brilliant football played and I was delighted, a really good performance.”

The rout sets up a mouthwatering game against sixth-tier Maidstone, the lowest ranked team left in the competition.

Robins added: “We’re looking forward to it greatly, they’ve done brilliantly.

“George (Elokobi) has done a fantastic job in getting Maidstone to this round, they’re on our level on the day, they’ll be on our level, we’ve got to take it really seriously, which we always do, and give them the respect that they deserve, they’re on the same pitch as us so we need to make sure we approach that game as we always do.”

On the win over Wednesday, Robins added: “Obviously this tie has been spoken about, the game up there in the league wasn’t great and we’ve spoken about that a lot so to progress in this tie against these was very sweet, the only sour note was Di’Shon Bernard’s left a shoulder in on Jamie Allen’s cheek and fractured his cheekbone.

“Kasey’s goal was a brilliant goal but he’s been calm and been patient just until that moment when he could get a shot away and he found the bottom corner.

“Second half was where we settled down a little bit and took control. I thought we took complete control but some of the play was outstanding, from top, top players who were enjoying themselves.”

Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl bemoaned the eight-minute spell which meant his side were beaten comfortably after making nine changes after their 4-0 thrashing at Huddersfield on Saturday.

Rohl said: “In the first half we played well with Coventry, it was a good game to see, but then again in eight minutes, three conceded goals, this is hard to take.

“This is what we have to learn, we spoke after Huddersfield about this situation, if you concede one then it’s about OK, be strong, make the basics right then come again.

“In the first half the reaction was great, we came back in this game, it was still open but then you see also I think the difference in the final third again today and I think this is where we are, we try a lot but they can make one movement and smart pass to make it 2-1, but this is at the moment the difference.

“When I look back there are some different goals, today we conceded the first after losing the ball where it’s dangerous, the second, third and fourth goal is when we are organised and in deep position, this is about how we protect our goal.

“Full focus on the league, that was my message after the game. Sixteen games to go, 48 points to take, this is our goal, this is our challenge what we have.

“We need results, we know this, after Huddersfield we had a good day with the team, from tomorrow we need to move forward.”

Southampton forward Sekou Mara’s quickfire second-half double in the 3-0 FA Cup replay victory over Watford booked a fifth-round trip to Liverpool.

The Championship high-fliers extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 24 matches when Che Adams teed up the 21-year-old Frenchman in the 52nd minute.

Mara, who had been linked with Sheffield United in the January transfer window after making just one league start this season, doubled his tally six minutes later with his fifth goal in nine appearances, before Adams wrapped things up 14 minutes from time.

Coventry coasted to a home tie against non-league Maidstone after three goals inside nine second-half minutes dispatched Championship rivals Sheffield Wednesday 4-1.

Kasey Palmer’s early opener for the hosts had been cancelled out by Bailey Cadamarteri’s 10th-minute equaliser but the game turned immediately after half-time as Callum O’Hare scored twice, with Haji Wright adding the fourth.

Coventry’s sensational late show stunned leaders Leicester as the 10-man Foxes were deservedly beaten.

Callum O’Hare’s double and Milan van Ewijk’s goal fired the Sky Blues to a 3-1 win.

O’Hare’s 79th-minute strike hauled them level, after Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s controversial penalty gave the visitors the lead, before the midfielder netted late following van Ewijk’s effort two minutes from time.

The Sky Blues were furious about the penalty but were given hope by Abdul Fatawu’s red card in first-half stoppage time.

Leicester slipped to a first defeat in 11 Championship games with Coventry maintaining their play-off challenge.

Beforehand, both clubs condemned those who had hung banners on the M69 mocking the death of former owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and abusing Leicester fans.

The hosts had lost just once since December, a seven-match unbeaten run pushing them to the brink of the play-offs and the Sky Blues took that confidence to go at Leicester early, coming close after six minutes.

The busy O’Hare won the ball back for Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and the winger jinked past James Justin and Mads Hermansen turned his drive onto the post.

A minute before Matty Godden curled at Hermansen while Kasey Palmer drilled wide soon after with the Foxes yet to get going.

Leicester last lost in November, successive defeats to Leeds and Middlesbrough, and had dropped just four points since yet they were unnerved by Coventry’s bustling approach.

Godden’s deflected effort skidded wide as the Sky Blues continued to press, only for Leicester to issue a warning 10 minutes before half time.

Good work from Dewsbury-Hall saw the Foxes break and when the midfielder swapped passes with Stephy Mavididi he teed up Cesare Casadei, only for the forward to slide his shot inches wide.

O’Hare then had his own chance but failed to get a connection before late drama at the end of the half.

Van Ewijk lost possession and allowed Dewsbury-Hall to chase, Bobby Thomas came steaming in and, while he won the ball, the defender caught the Leicester man with the follow through.

Referee Darren England pointed to the spot and Dewsbury-Hall sent Brad Collins the wrong way after 44 minutes.

If the visitors thought they would then see out the half with few problems they were mistaken when Fatawu – who had earlier been warned to calm down by Wout Faes – cleaned out Jake Bidwell in stoppage time and was instantly shown a red card.

Coventry tried to capitalise and Godden wasted a fine chance, heading van Ewijk’s cross at Hermansen 10 minutes into the second half.

Leicester carried little threat and it was up to Coventry to break them down but Mark Robins’ men struggled for inspiration, despite the man advantage, until O’Hare struck with 11 minutes left.

Substitutes Ellis Simms and Jay Dasilva combined to set up O’Hare for the midfielder to curl in low from 12 yards.

Coventry went chasing victory and went ahead in the 88th minute when Sakamoto’s corner was only cleared to van Ewijk on the edge of the box and he found the bottom corner.

There was still time for O’Hare to volley in a third in stoppage time to cap the comeback.

Mark Robins was delighted for midfielder Callum O’Hare after he scored a brace in Coventry’s 2-0 win over Birmingham.

They were the former Aston Villa man’s first goals since he suffered a serious knee injury on Boxing Day last year, which kept the 25-year-old out for almost 10 months.

“I’m absolutely delighted for him,” said manager Robins. “I thought he was really good, some of the football we played with him being the conduit was really clever and everybody wants to get involved.

“There was some really good football and the goals that he scored were fantastic.

“If he keeps that calm head there’s no reason to put any sort of pressure on him, he knows what he’s doing. He’s had some time out to reflect and look at how he goes about things but his character and his personality, he’s just an effervescent character that lifts everybody on a daily basis.

“I’m delighted with the win and the performance, it’s a derby game and sometimes things go for you, sometimes they don’t, you’re never going to get it all your own way but I think we got the majority of it our way and that was because of the performance of the players.

“The lads have done really well, we had more chances to convert. Some of the football was brilliant and the two goals we got were outstanding.

“When we had to defend we defended really well, Brad (Collins) has made a couple of good saves, we defended the corners and I’m delighted with the three points.”

O’Hare toe-poked home a first-half opener before doubling the lead when Coventry broke from a Birmingham corner and he jinked across the box before finishing emphatically.

Blues manager Wayne Rooney bemoaned more soft goals conceded by his team, who have now lost six of their nine games since the former England striker replaced John Eustace at St. Andrew’s.

Rooney said: “I thought we started the game quite bright but the decision-making wasn’t the best. It was something we’ve been working on, playing in the opposition’s half and trying to create better chances.

“That needs to be better from us. The first goal is a poor goal from our point of view. I felt like we were still in the game, we were trying to get an equaliser and they get the second goal from our corner.

“We’re getting punished when we make mistakes and ultimately we need to cut that out, but throughout the 90 minutes Coventry deserved to win, they were the better team.

“We let ourselves down with the goals we conceded and that’s my responsibility, it’s my job to get the players performing better and picking up more points than we have done, we’re working extremely hard to try and do that.

“We’re in a difficult place, we know we are, with the run of results, the points we’re losing and the big thing is the goals we are conceding are very poor goals, so we have to figure it out, make sure we don’t give easy goals away which we seem to be doing at the minute.”

Callum O’Hare netted a brace as Coventry beat Birmingham 2-0 at the CBS Arena.

The former Aston Villa midfielder had not scored for over 18 months after suffering a serious knee injury on Boxing Day last year and was starting just his second game since returning from injury.

The 25-year-old opened the scoring after he was played in by Milan van Ewijk before his superb solo goal made the three points safe in the second half.

O’Hare’s goals also meant Mark Robins’ men claimed their second consecutive home win, moving them above Blues and up to 14th in the table.

Blues’ woes under Wayne Rooney continued as Birmingham were handed their sixth loss in nine games since the former Manchester United striker replaced John Eustace and had John Ruddy to thank that the deficit was kept to one for the majority of the second half.

The visitors had started positively when Coventry failed to clear their lines and Krystian Bielik’s effort was saved by Brad Collins.

Collins had to be on hand again a minute later to keep Juninho Bacuna’s effort at bay.

Coventry started to get a foothold in the game midway through the first half and looked a threat down the right through Van Ewijk, whose cross found O’Hare but his effort was beaten away by Ruddy.

Robins’ side opened the scoring on the half-hour mark when Van Ewijk and O’Hare combined again before the 25-year-old held off the challenge of Lee Buchanan to stab his effort in at the near post in front of over 26,000 spectators in the CBS Arena.

The Sky Blues then had appeals for a penalty waved away when the ball struck Koji Miyoshi on the arm before half-time.

Coventry went in search of a second after the break as Haji Wright had a hat-trick of chances to extend the lead.

Firstly, the American met Van Ewijk’s pinpoint cross but his downward header was comfortable for Ruddy, who then bravely blocked Wright’s second effort with his face a minute later after the forward beat Bacuna down the left.

Ruddy was called into action again when he gathered Wright’s low effort after he cut inside from the left for a second time after O’Hare’s delightful outside-of-the-foot pass.

Van Ewijk was next to test Ruddy’s resolve when his powerful free-kick was clawed away by the former Norwich keeper before Tatsuhiro Sakamato’s effort was also kept out.

O’Hare completed his brace and gave Coventry breathing space on 77 minutes with a superb solo effort.

Dancing across the box, terrified Birmingham defenders watched on as O’Hare blasted in his second to complete a memorable night for the Sky Blues midfielder.