Delighted Coventry boss Mark Robins targeted 50-plus points for the season as he insists his side were still not safe despite moving nine points clear of the Championship drop zone.
A first-half goal from Dominic Hyam and stoppage-time strike from Matt Godden sealed a 2-0 win over play-off chasing Barnsley at St Andrew’s to move the Sky Blues on to 48 points.
After seeing his side extend their points advantage over third-from-bottom Rotherham, Robins is remaining cautious but also looking up the table.
“It was a much-needed win,” Robins said. “There are still games to come and points to play for so I wouldn’t want anybody thinking it was job done.
“We need to get into the 50s. That has to be the aim.
“We need to put as much distance as we can between us and the teams around us but there are also teams we can catch in front of us and that has to be the challenge for us.”
Reflecting on the win, Robins felt his side were good value for their victory.
“The quality in the game is bereft a little bit now because the stakes are so high,” he said.
“But within it we played some good stuff and we did what we needed to do to.
“To break Barnsley down is really difficult because of the way they come after you but we managed to get the result.
“It’s been a great few days. The emotion of the win at Rotherham on Thursday and then to come into this game and beat a side like Barnsley, the players just deserve enormous credit.
“It puts us in a really good position for the last few games.”
For Barnsley, defeat saw their impressive away form come to a shuddering halt.
They had won six on the spin on their travels before the game and manager Valerian Ismael said his side must quickly put the defeat behind them.
“It was not enough today,” he said. “The first half, we didn’t shoot on target.
“The second half was better but over the 90 minutes, Coventry deserved to win. They were well organised and we were not good enough.
“But it’s not time to complain. We just have to focus on the next game.”
The Tykes remain four points clear of seventh-placed Reading.
And the Barnsley boss said: “We have put in a big effort so far and we move quickly on to the next game now. We need to bounce back.”
He added: “We are still in a strong position. We have had 42 games so far and we have performed incredibly.
“We are proud of the guys so we have just told them, ‘forget that game now, move on in your head’. We have four games left and we have to be ready.”
