The future looked bright for Sky Blues fans at the turn of the year. They were in the ascendancy, reaching full potential and looking as good as any of their League Two rivals.

However, 2018 has not started favourably for them with just two wins in the league. They're currently on a four-game losing run and any excitement at the arrival of players in January has been offset by their dismal run.

With Mansfield Town, Wycombe Wanderers, Lincoln City and Luton Town opponents in four of the next five games, it really isn't the time to be out of form. Failure to get favourable results in those games, particularly against Lincoln and Mansfield, could ensure that they spend at least one more season in the basement division.

One seriously detrimental loss has been Duckens Nazon, the Haiti international who arrived in the summer on loan from Wolves. His raw power and eye for goal had caused trouble for defences throughout the first half of the season. He scored winning goals in promotion six-pointers against Lincoln and Swindon, but was recalled by his parent club in January.

He's now on loan at Oldham and, combined with the serious injury to Jodi Jones, Coventry's attacking force has been blunted as a result. Johnson Clarke-Harris has scored just once since his return from Rotherham, that coming in the FA Cup tie against Brighton. Marc McNulty, a summer capture from Sheffield United, has failed to score in the last three games but has got 16 for the season.

They also lost exciting young midfielder Ben Stevenson on deadline day, with Wolves again hurting Mark robins' side. They immediately loaned him back to Colchester United, now level on points with Coventry in the table.

Jordan Maguire-Drew cut his loan short at Lincoln to move to the Ricoh Arena, but his impact has been minimal and as yet, the Sky Blues haven't managed to replace the trickery of Jones or the presence of Nazon in their attack. Their fans don't feel Maguire-Drew is the answer and on recent outings, it appears they're probably right.

The next five games will be pivotal in their season as they look to catch up their promotion rivals, but anything less than nine points from the fifteen will surely leave them a mountain to climb if they going to regain League One status.