The Lowdown

The Sky Blues travel to the Championship's basement club Scunthorpe for the first time ever in the league this weekend, and the Iron will be desperately fighting to ensure that their first season at this level does not end with an instant return to League One.

Nigel Adkins' men are at the foot of the table but with the bottom of the Championship looking incredibly tight, they are certainly not set adrift at present and will maintain hope that they can escape the drop.

Despite a return of just two points from their last four outings, Scunthorpe are only five points away from safety and Adkins has recently stated that he believes his side can achieve their own "Mission Impossible" and stay up.

"It's still very, very close down at the bottom," he said. "There are six teams around us and we have to play them all. If we win six games, we'll stay up, it's as simple as that.

"Coventry are not too far above us and this is going to be a massive game. But our destiny is very much in our own hands. There is still all to play for and we are very focussed."

If City needed a warning not to take this game lightly, Adkins has spelt it our in black-and-white and a defeat at Glanford Park would certainly plunge the Sky Blues into even deeper danger of the drop.

Scunthorpe have what it takes to get a result from "bigger" clubs struggling at the wrong end of the table as they proved last time out by holding Southampton to a 1-1 draw on their own turf.

They have also shown enough character to either push genuine promotion hopefuls close or go even better of late. They lost by a solitary goal to nil against Bristol City at Glanford Park in their penultimate home encounter, before which they beat Charlton by the same scoreline.

The Gaffer

Nigel Adkins made his first foray into the managerial game came with Bangor City in the League of Wales and in three years there, guided the Citizens to two Championships and a brief taste of UEFA Cup football.

He first arrived at Scunthorpe as first team physio in 1996 and has always been regarded as a vital part of the Glanford Park coaching set-up.

Following Brian Laws' departure to Sheffield Wednesday, Adkins enjoyed a successful stint as caretaker boss, which started with a draw against Cheltenham in the FA Cup First Round in November 2006.

The United board were so impressed with his start - when United won three, drew two and lost just one out of six - that they awarded him the position full-time on December 7, 2006 and their faith has been repaid handsomely as Adkins led Scunthorpe to the Championship last season, for the first time in nearly half a century.

As a player he represented England Schoolboys before going on to make 86 appearances over four seasons with Tranmere. He also played 156 times for Wigan and 95 times for Bangor, demonstrating great loyalty to all three clubs.

His exploits last season have certainly proven his credentials as a talented young manager and at the age of 42, he has plenty of time on his side.

Star Man

Martin Paterson has been a key player for the Iron this season, scoring 13 goals in all competitions.

A nippy goal poacher, he joined Scunthorpe last summer and has delighted all at Glanford Park since his arrival.

He netted four goals in his first four starts to get this term off to a flying start as well as receiving numerous call-ups to the Northern Ireland squad, most recently featuring in his nation's 1-0 loss to Bulgaria.

Paterson left Stoke last summer, where he had risen through the ranks to make his first team debut as a substitute in April 2005 before making two first team starts against Leeds and the Sky Blues in 2005/06.

He grabbed his first senior goal for Stoke in 2006/07, stepping off the bench to earn a 1-1 draw away at Sheffield Wednesday.

The striker spent a part of the 2006/07 season on loan at Grimsby Town where he scored six goals in 15 games for the Mariners, before he signed a two-year-deal with the Iron last July.

Currently partnered up front by Geoff Horsfield, who joined the Iron on loan from Sheffield United last month.

Head-to-Head

Jack Cork earned Scunthorpe a share of the spoils at the Ricoh last November when he cancelled out a Michael Doyle penalty in a 1-1 draw.

Before this season City had never played Scunthorpe in a league game, therefore it is our first league visit there. Coventry did play the Iron in the FA Cup in 1935 and lost 4-2. Scunthorpe were a non-league side and played in those days at the Old Showground not Glanford Park.

City beat them twice in the FA Cup at home, 7-0 in 1934 (the club's record FA Cup victory) and 4-0 in 1954.